Arizona Supreme Court to hear cases remotely due to outbreak

PHOENIX (AP) — The coronavirus outbreak has prompted the Arizona Supreme Court to schedule remote legal arguments in six cases with attorneys appearing through video conferencing.

The arrangement is a departure from the court's standard practice of hearing arguments in its Phoenix courtroom or alternative locations such as law schools.

The court said Thursday it has scheduled three arguments on April 14 and three more April 16.

The justices will be in the courtroom except for a former justice and a Court of Appeals judge filling in for justices who recused themselves from one or more cases. The fill-in justices will be in Tucson and participate remotely.

With six other the justices in the courtroom each day, it will be temporarily reconfigured to ensure social distancing, the court said in a statement.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

The public won't be allowed in the courtroom but the court said the sessions can be viewed on video live or later from the court's archive.

The appeals to be argued include one stemming from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich's lawsuit accusing the state Board of Regents of violating a constitutional requirement that state university tuition be as nearly free as possible.

Another appeal to be argued involves a privacy lawsuit stemming from a pharmacist's joking with a man's ex-wife about an erectile dysfunction prescription that the man had never picked up.