The Maryland Supreme Court recently issued a tight 4-3 ruling, interpreting a former chief justice’s administrative COVID-19 orders about the scope of a 15-day extension. The court majority agreed that the order, issued by the prior Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera, pertained solely to the period between March 16, 2020, and July 20, 2020. These dates coincide with the times when the court clerks’ offices were closed to the public due to the pandemic.
The majority opinion clarified that the 15-day extension applied only to deadlines that had been suspended during the closed period. Therefore, the extension did not cover the entirety of the judiciary’s emergency operations, which concluded later, on April 3, 2022. This distinction carries significant implications for legal matters with timelines affected by the pandemically-induced closures and subsequent emergency operations.
Details of the court’s decision can be found in the original report.
For those interested in the full court opinion, it is available here.