As expected, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Judge Harold Melton has suspended new trials by jury statewide until AT LEAST February 2021.

Amanda Clark Palmer, media chair of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, is sounding the alarm that prosecutors are using the pandemic as an excuse “to advance goals they have had for a while and make these permanent changes that will have a drastic impact on people accused of crimes.”

The Judicial Council of Georgia is asking state legislators to implement measures that would drastically undermine speedy trial guarantees, gutting already weak standards that are supposed to ensure defendants cannot be punished with excessive detention without even being convicted.

An announcement is expected soon from the Georgia Supreme Court that jury trials across the state of Georgia are cancelled until at least mid-February.