- Appeals Court
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Appeals Court has developed a video conference oral argument pilot program to test the feasibility of using the Zoom video conferencing application to conduct oral arguments remotely. Cases in the pilot will be argued through Zoom with a video feed live streamed on YouTube for public viewing. The first case was argued on April 2, 2020 and the Appeals Court received feedback from the participating justices, attorneys, and clerk that it is now using to further develop procedures and guides for future participants.
Two additional cases have been selected for upcoming oral arguments by video conference:
1. Commonwealth v. Akil A. Charles (docket no. 2019-P-1230) will be argued on April 9, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. before Justices James Milkey, Sookyoung Shin, and John Englander.
2. Bay State Gas Company v. Commissioner of Revenue (docket no. 2019-P-0114) will be argued April 14, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. before Justices Peter Rubin, Amy Blake, and Dalila Wendlandt.
Interested members of the public are encouraged to view the live stream of these oral arguments at the times stated above on the Appeals Court's new YouTube page at this link. Appellate briefs filed by the attorneys that will participate in the oral arguments are currently available on the Appeals Court's online docket and set forth the issues, facts, and legal arguments in each case.
In the event that the pilot program continues to be successful, the Appeals Court hopes and anticipates expanding the program to hear remote oral arguments in the cases scheduled on the Appeals Court's May 2020 argument calendar if necessitated by the public health crisis.