March 2021 Pandemic Update
The pandemic has had an affect on all of us. One of the big impacts it has had on the legal profession is the closing of many courts for in person appearances. Consider this a pandemic update on the law.
This first thing that I noticed was that I spent a lot less time on the road. I handle cases all over the State. Now I was sitting at my desk, behind my computer looking into a screen that was displaying a judge in a far away county.
More Efficiency
The result was that it made me more efficient. Rather than drive hours to another county, I could resolve a case from my desk. Now some courts are returning to in person hearings. What we have learned, at least some of us, is that there is an easier and more efficient way to handle many of the routine matters that take place in courts.
Gun Violence in Missouri
When gun violence is counted in a single category, that means lumping accidents, suicides and homicides together it accounts for about 40,000 deaths per year in America. Heart disease claims about 650,000 lives a year, Alzheimer’s about 125,000 and vehicle accidents about 39,000. Just the facts.
2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in America in quite some time. In Missouri the year 2020 was the worst year for gun violence ever in our history. 689 people were shot and killed in Missouri in 2020. Missouri was the third highest state in deaths by guns per capita. Mississippi and Louisiana were the only two with higher rates.
What do we do about gun violence? Nobody seems to have an answer or everybody has their own answer. There is no simple solution.
Get Vaccinated, I Did
The question remains whether or not we are going to get the pandemic under control soon. I already took my shots to be vaccinated. If you do not get vaccinated, you are contributing to the problem. There is no legitimate reason for most people not to get vaccinated.
So the pandemic is still with us and the courts are slow to adapt. They are trying, some trying harder than others to make it all work. But as all things in the legal system, change is hard to come by.