Surrounded by scaffolding, fencing, and construction equipment, the Federal Building and Courthouse at the east end of Providence’s Kennedy Plaza was quiet during lunch hour Wednesday afternoon.
That somewhat reflected the quiet inside the building, which houses Rhode Island’s U.S. District Court, where officials have begun scaling back operations amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. A disclaimer posted Monday on the court’s website states it no longer has sufficient funding to sustain full, paid operations.
“During this period, the court will maintain only those operations necessary to carry out its constitutional and statutory duties,” the notice states. “While certain functions will continue, members of the public, the bar, and litigants may experience reduced operations, limited staffing, and potential delays in some services.”
U.S. District Court Chief Deputy Clerk Frank Perry told Rhode Island Current Wednesday that court officials have already started to make some changes.
“Civic outreach, training, tours, naturalizations, and other activities that do not support those operations necessary to carry out our constitutional and statutory duties will be curtailed during the lapse,” he wrote in an email to Rhode Island Current.
Even approval for the media to take photographs inside the building is impacted by the shutdown. “This would have to be coordinated after the budget impasse is resolved, as the coordination of this doesn’t necessarily fall within an excepted activity,” Perry said.
The clerk’s office, for now, will still accept all civil and criminal filings and continue regular administration of the jury and grand jury system. Even work on the ongoing renovations of the Exchange Terrace building’s exterior, still partially covered with scaffolding, will continue amid the shutdown, Perry said.
Perry deferred to the U.S. General Services Administration for comment on the exterior work. A spokesperson acknowledged a request from Rhode Island Current but did not send an official response.
If the shutdown continues, Rhode Island’s court may have to halt review of the several high-profile lawsuits filed against the Trump administration, Roger Williams University School of Law Professor Michael Yelnosky warns.
“Criminal matters have to get first priority because of statutory and constitutional protections to which defendants are entitled,” Yelnosky said in an email to Rhode Island Current Wednesday.
When the federal shutdown began Oct. 1, the nation’s judiciary branch was able to keep existing operations afloat through a small fund derived from case filing fees and leftover funding carried from previous years.
But last Friday, the federal judiciary announced that funding had run out. As a result, it would no longer be able to continue its paid operations after Monday, effectively leaving the decision on how to proceed in the coming days and weeks to individual courts.
“In some districts, courts have delayed proceedings in civil cases, including civil cases pending against the Trump administration, because of the impact of the government shutdown not only on the courts’ resources but the resources of the Justice Department, which is defending the administration in those cases,” Yelnosky wrote.
So far, that worst case scenario hasn’t hit federal courthouses in New England, though the effects of the shutdown vary.
Much like Rhode Island, federal district courts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire issued notices stating “operations necessary to carry out its constitutional and statutory duties” will remain ongoing and that all cases will continue as scheduled.
Courts in Maine and Vermont both issued notices stating that they will remain open during normal business hours and that all cases would proceed as scheduled.
Federal judges in Connecticut too will continue to hear cases, but the clerks will no longer work on Fridays.
“Although all employees are deemed to be performing excepted activities, the Court recognizes that not all employees are needed to report for duty every day during the shutdown,” states an Oct. 16 administrative order by Chief Judge Michael P. Shea of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Rhode Island has emerged as one of Democrats’ key legal battlegrounds. Attorney General Peter Neronha is leading or has joined 38 cases against the Trump administration, with over a dozen filed in Rhode Island.
The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed five cases — four grant certification cases and one habeas petition — in the state’s federal courthouse.
Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, said he’s yet to notice any broad impacts to the court caused by the shutdown.
“What is most important is that the court will be open to hear and rule on cases, and in that regard we are hopeful that the shutdown won’t significantly affect the court’s ability to address requests for emergency relief expeditiously,” Brown said.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
