By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/11/05

Law student Jeanette Wasdin just wanted to finish her class project. Instead, she may have discovered that the Atlanta Municipal Court unconstitutionally bars the public from its courtroom during weekends.

Wasdin attends classes at Georgia State University and observes city court hearings as part of her Criminal Justice Field Work and Reform class. But late last month, Wasdin said, she was told by officials that weekend Municipal Court hearings at the jail are closed to the public.
"I think the public has a constitutional right to attend these hearings," Wasdin, 26, said in a recent interview.

Over the past few weeks, Wasdin has called jail officials, filed Open Records Act requests and written to court judges. She has found it difficult to determine when the hearings are held because they typically begin only after the duty judge arrives at the jail on Saturday.

Wasdin said she was initially told by jail officials that court was closed to the public on Saturdays. Later, she said, she was told that if she wanted to attend court with her entire law school class, she must schedule that two weeks in advance. But Wasdin said she only wants to attend a hearing and should not be required to set up an appointment.

Atlanta Corrections Chief Tom Pocock, who oversees jail operations, said members of the media, upon request, are admitted to attend high-profile hearings. Lawyers who represent inmates are admitted and, on occasion, family members also are allowed inside. But space limitations and security concerns discourage opening the courtroom to the public, said Pocock, who teaches a criminal justice class at GSU. "Many who appear were arrested just four to six hours ago and are still on drugs or alcohol and unstable," he said.

Since Wasdin lodged her initial complaint, Pocock said, he has told jail officials to allow students who want to attend weekend hearings to be admitted. "But the court will not be routinely opened up to any passersby," he said.

Wasdin's professor, Clark Cunningham, said if the city believes the jail is not secure enough on Saturdays to hold open court hearings, other arrangements should be made, such as using the city courthouse. "Our courts must not operate out of the public eye," he said. "Bad things do happen in the dark."

Cunningham cited a 1982 Georgia Supreme Court decision that said "the criminal trial itself and all its consequent hearings on motions (pre-trial, mid-trial and post-trial) shall be open to the press and public on equal terms." The state Constitution, the court noted, "commands that open hearings are the nearly absolute rule and closed hearings the very rarest of exceptions."

During probable cause hearings, a judge determines whether there is enough evidence to justify an arrest and continued detention. Bail is also considered and defendants are notified of the charges against them and given cards with the public defender office's address and phone number.

Municipal Court Administrator Douglas Mincher echoed Pocock's concerns about public safety. "It's a non-public area," he said of the jail's courtroom. "They bring the defendants out of incarceration into an area where members of the public would also be sitting. There are some safety issues there."

Mincher also said some of the court's judges do not believe these are hearings of "consequence," as specified by the Georgia Supreme Court in its 1982 decision.

Tom Clyde, a lawyer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, called that an "absurd" interpretation of the court's decision. "A probable cause hearing is one of the most fundamental aspects of our justice system," he said. "It violates both the federal Constitution and Georgia Supreme Court authority to hold closed court."

Stephen Bright, director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, agreed. The nation's founders and the U.S. Supreme Court, he said, have "recognized that public observation of court proceedings is an essential safeguard against abuses and improper conduct by judges and other court officials, and that barring the public undermines public confidence in the courts."

Wasdin, who grew up in Marietta and graduated from Pope High School, is a Wake Forest University law student finishing up her classes at GSU because her husband got a job in the Atlanta area. On Thursday, after a futile trip to Municipal Court to get more information, Wasdin expressed frustration that she has yet to see documentation of the city's policies or procedures that govern public access to weekend hearings at the jail. "It's surprising how hard it's been to get information," she said.