Federal jury trials suspended in Indiana's Southern District

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Federal jury trials have been suspended through at least late January in Indiana's Southern District as coronavirus cases continue to surge across the state.

An order sent Friday by Chief Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson suspends all in-person jury trials in all divisions of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana until at least Jan. 25. All court-officiated naturalization ceremonies have also been cancelled until at least that date.

The court's order came the same day that Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a new executive order reinstating limits on crowd sizes for nearly every Indiana county starting Sunday, in response to weeks of sharp increases in Indiana's COVID-19 hospitalizations and new infections.

The Southern District has courts in Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Evansville and New Albany. While jury trials at federal courthouses in those cities have been suspended, those courthouses remain open.

But COVID-19 restrictions imposed in the District Court's previous orders remain in effect. Those include mandatory face coverings in all public spaces, excluding people with medical exemptions or those excused from wearing a face covering in a courtroom by its presiding judge.

The District Court has created a COVID-19 response page on its website that contains all orders, press releases, and other information regarding Court operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.