The New York State Court System announced Friday that due to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent COVID-19 directives, no new trial jurors will be summoned for jury duty, for now.
According to the court system, starting next week there will be no prospective trial jurors called for jury service. This includes both criminal and civil cases, as well as grand jury empanelments.
In an interview with News12, Attorney Bruce Barket said this will severely hurt the criminal justice system and people arrested.
"The idea that we can just cavalierly - no more jury trials, no more grand juries, but we're going to continue to arrest people, and continue to hold people in jail, is outrageous," Barket says. "You can't incarcerate people and not give them access to the courts."
