Wisconsin task force working to keep courts open during pandemic

Courthouse workers from around Wisconsin have a short time to figure out how to make the court system safer during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

A state task force headed by Wisconsin’s chief justice held its first meeting last week, and La Crosse district attorney Tim Gruenke is a local member of that committee. 

Gruenke said it’s a tough task, because a jury trial can bring dozens of people together in small spaces, and La Crosse’s 23-year-old courthouse wasn’t designed for social distancing.

Gruenke added that the task force is supposed to come up with recommendations by the end of the month, when the governor’s latest ‘safer-at-home’ order is set to expire. 

When a homicide suspect was brought to La Crosse County court this week, Judge Elliott Levine had the courtroom to himself. 

Levine was on the bench, connected to the defendant, lawyers and reporters by video links because of the coronavirus. 

The hallways outside La Crosse courtrooms already are showing signs of distancing: literally, signs posted on seating outside the courtrooms are designed to keep visitors from sitting too close together.