Chief Justice Roberts uses year-end report to applaud work of courts during pandemic

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In his annual year-end report, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts praised how courts across the U.S. responded to the coronavirus pandemic and the "unsung heroes" who kept the judicial branch moving in a mostly virtual system.

The pandemic forced nationwide court closures in March. By April, judges were performing court functions from their home offices or "kitchen tables," Roberts wrote in his seven-page report. As court hearings went virtual, judges quickly, "or at least eventually," became familiar with a wide range of audio and video conferencing tools."

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In this Jan. 16, file photo Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts walks to the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington. Roberts praised state and federal courts in his year-end report. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Roberts commended the nation's judges for working "with court staff to admit participants to virtual hearings, manage the orderly flow of work, and ensure that public access did not endanger public health."

In an assessment of the legal process, Roberts also offered that staff and judges "needed to consider new approaches to filing documents and maintaining information. Much of this work is not glamorous, but it is essential, and it got done."

Many courtrooms were reconfigured in a creative fashion to enforce social distancing measures, such as certain courts installing plexiglass for protection. In some states, such as Michigan and Florida, judges held drive-thru naturalization ceremonies, while ceremonies in Iowa and Minnesota were moved outdoors, Roberts noted. 

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Roberts also mentioned that America's first chief justice, John Jay, adjourned the Supreme Court -- then in Philadelphia -- in 1793 because of the yellow fever pandemic that killed 5,000 of the city's 50,000 residents. 

Supreme Court sessions were also canceled once again with the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1918, he said.