You would not believe how excited I am to be able to once again gather together with my family, friends, and colleagues. I hope you are all able to do the same. My family is still being very cautious and taking it slow but, looking back, things are so much better.
All of us in the judicial branch can look back on the past 16 months with pride. Every day brought new challenges and you all responded quickly while balancing the need for open and transparent courts with our responsibility for the safety of our court users and your fellow staff.
A group of us spent quite a bit of time looking back on how we adapted to the ever-changing demands of the pandemic. The supreme court created the Lessons Learned Task Force to review the formal orders and informal policies or practices we used in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to see what rules, policies, or practices should be retained, if some should be modified, and which ones needed to be stopped. I called it the “Lemonade Task Force,” because this was an opportunity for us to make lemonade out of the lemons given us by COVID-19.
We requested public comment on the rules and procedures now in place and received almost 80 pages of suggestions in response. Many of you shared your thoughts and I want to thank you for your input. You can find the comments here: https://www.iowacourts.gov/collections/638/files/1367/embedDocument/ . The final report of the task force is posted here: https://www.iowacourts.gov/collections/638/files/1364/embedDocument/
After reading the comments and the final report, the supreme court decided the best course of action to transition from pandemic to postpandemic operations is to continue the practices now in place until the end of the year. The court will provide permanent policies and rule changes on these practices following our administrative term next month. The extra time will give everyone an opportunity to adjust to the retention, modification, or end of pandemic-related practices.
The Lemonade Task Force was a great opportunity to both look back and to look forward. It was also a chance to hear from you and what you thought of the many new ways developed to serve the people in your communities. As I look forward, I can’t help but feel optimistic. We have new tools and practices in place that will help us better serve the public and, most importantly, we have the people who know how to put these practices to work.
I hope everyone has a great summer, can gather with friends and family (safely), and maybe enjoy a cool glass of lemonade or two.