While coronavirus has led to cancellations and delays in many aspects of life since mid-March, the only delay in the Gluckstadt incorporation case at the moment is the lengthy briefing process.
In fact, Gluckstadt attorney John Scanlon said they are only halfway through briefing.
The incorporation process began to take shape more than 10 years ago, but officially began when residents began the petition in March 2016. The petition for incorporation was filed on January 31, 2017.
After more than three years of litigation and a final decree from the chancery court granting incorporation in May 2019, the case is going to the Supreme Court.
For now, the briefing process is ongoing, according to Scanlon.
“I anticipate that it will be months before it’s complete, in part because I anticipate other deadline extensions,” Scanlon said. “Several have already been granted. Because of all the parties involved, from a case which was already complex because it was two separate cases consolidated, it’s complicated.”
Ron Hutchinson, who is opposing Gluckstadt, and the Peco Foods group, which is a number of parties opposing Canton’s annexation, filed briefs in April. As of June 9, Scanlon said the following have since been filed: Gluckstadt incorporators’ brief of appellee against Hutchinson; Canton’s combined brief of appellee against Peco Foods and brief of cross-appellant against Gluckstadt; and two addenda to Canton’s brief.
Unless the deadline is extended by the Supreme Court, Scanlon said within the next 30 days there will be a few other briefs filed at various times, including Peco’s reply brief to Canton; Hutchinson’s reply brief to the incorporators; and the Gluckstadt incorporators’ brief of cross-appellee against Canton.
“We will then be done briefing,” Scanlon said.
The final brief, expected 14 days after the above briefs are filled, will be Canton’s reply brief to Gluckstadt (in the cross-appeal). This will deal specifically with issues from the first, jurisdictional trial and argument about the denial of three areas Canton sought to annex. Scanlon said this will have nothing to do with what was presented at the second trial regarding Gluckstadt’s proposed budget or services.
“It’s confusing, but we’re about halfway done with the briefing,” Scanlon said.
Once the briefing is finally complete, the court could set a date for oral argument at some point within nine months after that.
The courts may be one of the few aspects of society that were able to maintain some consistency and normalcy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I would not say that coronavirus has played a huge role yet in the timeline of this case, at least not at this time,” Scanlon told the Sun. “Many courts in Mississippi, both federal and state, have taken precautions, some pursuant to a higher court’s order.”
Some of these precautions Scanlon mentioned deal with in-person hearings, trials and oral arguments.
“But the courts have all been consistent to say that even in the face of a pandemic, the courts must stay open to Mississippians,” Scanlon said. “Because we are months away from any possible oral argument at the earliest, I don’t think the virus has delayed any briefing or any office work like that yet.”
However, Scanlon is not ruling out that the virus could affect the trial down the line.
“It may well come into play at some point, depending on a number of factors, like which attorneys’ offices are operating with a reduced staff or from their homes, but at this point, I would not say that the virus has directly resulted in any delay or extension of deadlines in this particular case,” Scanlon said.
