Federal courthouses hearing Long Island cases will whittle down to 'essential' operations next week amid government shutdown

The federal judiciary is set to scale back operations beginning Monday as the government shutdown hit a two-week mark, leaving some staff and cases in limbo.

For the first 17 days of the shutdown, federal courts relied on fees, balances, and so-called "no-year appropriations" to pay its staff and operate normally, according to a memo from Judge Robert Conrad, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

This will impact Long Island as the U.S. Eastern District, which has federal jurisdiction over the Island, has federal courthouses in Central Islip and downtown Brooklyn, where prosecutors handle cases ranging from MS-13 gang leaders to COVID-aid fraud schemes.

What will happen going forward?

As of next Monday, the court system will enter "phase 2," with only essential activities carrying on. Conrad instructed court units and public defenders to defer costs that are not "absolutely critical to the performance of their constitutional responsibilities."

Which cases and staff are deemed essential will likely "vary somewhat court to court" across district, appellate and bankruptcy courts, said Charles Hall, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, in a statement to Newsday.

Interested parties can check whether a case has been postponed with the clerk of the court's office, or online at pacer.uscourts.gov. "Each clerk of court’s staffing will have some limited staffing to handle essential business, so the public can still direct inquiries there," Hall wrote, adding that each court will decide how to handle requests from the public.

"Regarding payments, the Judiciary have [sic] funding to cover all salaries through the current pay period, which ends Friday. No announcements have been made regarding after Oct. 17," he wrote.

Language interpreters for non-English-speaking or hearing-impaired defendants, for example, are considered "essential" jobs, and the courts can continue to contract them. But "payments to interpreters will be delayed until after Congress resolves the funding lapse," Hall wrote.

Are there differences between criminal and civil cases?

Yes. Criminal litigation "will continue without interruption," while civil litigation "will be curtailed or postponed," according to the Justice Department's contingency plan. Federal attorneys will request that the courts postpone civil cases until funding is available, and if a court denies that request, the government will comply with a minimum level of staffing.

Justice Department attorneys across the country have asked judges to halt cases due to a lack of congressional funding, including an antitrust case against Google and a case against state education funding in Minnesota for immigrants living in the country illegally.

What about federal immigration court?

Federal immigration courts will continue handling cases during the shutdown, according to the Justice Department's most recent guidance. The department cited President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency caused by "illegal migration," adding that if immigration courts were not exempt, a backlog of nearly 4 million cases would grow.

Will there be furloughs?

More than 100,000 Justice Department employees — or 89% of them — are exempt from furlough, the department wrote in a memo dated Sep. 29.

"The Department has a high percentage of activities and employees that are excepted ... and can continue during a lapse in appropriations," the memo read.

Some Justice Department employees also can continue working because they’re paid by multiyear appropriations, or because they’re protected presidential appointees.