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GEORGIA FOI CONFIDENTIAL Atlanta, Nov. 1, 2004 -- Just as the Georgia First Amendment Foundation was getting ready to announce that he will be the 2005 Weltner Freedom of Information Award honoree, the Georgia Supreme Court happened to publish another of Justice Norman M. Fletcher's opinions in support of open government. It came in City of Atlanta v. Corey Entertainment Inc. et al, a Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport advertising dispute. The tax returns of Barbara Fouch are subject to the Open Records Act because they were "submitted to the City in her attempt to receive certification as a 'Disadvantaged Business Enterprise,' " Fletcher wrote, according to the summary of the case on the court's web site. The Fouch tax returns therefore "qualify as public records because they were 'received in the course of the operation of a public office or agency,' " Fletcher wrote. Atlanta was represented in the case by City Attorney Linda K. DiSantis. Corey Entertainment, which appealed to open the records, was represented by Michael J. Bowers. Charles L. Weltner's legacy in Ga. FOI The annual Weltner freedom of information banquet program features a tribute to the former chief justice from a former associate of his. This year a Weltner recollection long overlooked will be unearthed for this purpose. "In memoriam, Charles Longstreet Weltner," was published after his death in the Georgia Reports Volume 262 of 1992-93. The committee that submitted this trubute to then Chief Justice Harold C. Clarke was chaired by Susan Weltner Yow, the subject's daughter. It also included Wyche Fowler, Hon. R. Alex Crumbley, F. Carter Tate, Charles M. Kidd, Hon. Jack Etheridge, Hon. Elizabeth R. Glazebrook, Tom Watson Brown, Hon. James A. Mackay, James M. Sibley, Jeanney Kutner, Hon. Osgood O. Williams, Hon. Marvin H. Shoob, Michael J. Bowers, Overton A. Currie, Edward W. Branan and Hon. Hardy Gregory Jr. Gwinnett sheriff's public terminal Here is the exciting news that you can read on the following web site: www.gwinnettcountysheriff.com"The Sheriff's Department is required by law to provide certain information to the public regarding inmate admissions and releases from the Detention Center. Originally, a written docket book or log located in the facility's lobby was the access point for the information. This docket book was replaced with a public computer terminal in the lobby and is now available online via the internet." Public notice fight likely in '05 session Tony Marsella is Morris Publishing Group vice president for classified. He and the Georgia Press Association are gearing up to fight the Georgia Department of Transportation in the General Assembly, according to Sean Ireland's article in the October "Georgia Press Bulletin." The DOT board voted in September to propose a law that would "allow state road contracts to be advertised solely on the internet instead of in local newspapers," Ireland wrote. 'Whistleblower' bill could boost accountability The Georgia Association of Educators will try again in the 2005 session to achieve passage of its "whistleblower" legislation, according to the Oct. 4 press release on its web site. " 'To us this is a no-brainer,' said Dr. Mechuria Chase Williams, president of GAE. 'But for reasons unknown it seems to be threatening to others, mainly the administration.' "The bill, which was attached to Gov. Perdue’s ethics package, died along with the package in the final hours of the 2004 legislature... "The law would entitle educators to disclose "violations of law, rule, regulation, ordinance, or policy that pose a risk to public health, safety, or the environment without suffering adverse employment consequences or fear of reprisal.' "The educator would be entitled to damages awarded through legal action if the school board or administrator retaliates." Tracking down the Stewart County Board of Ed In the October "Georgia Press Bulletin," Attorney David Hudson of Augusta writes about a "seemingly cavalier" position on open government, in the Georgia Court of Appeals' words, of the Stewart County Board of Education Stewart County is in Lumpkin in southwest Georgia. "On Aug. 20, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that the Stewart County Board of Education had failed to give the public proper notice of a special meeting. "The court stated that the school board placed a notice in the county legal organ that it would hold its meetings the rest of the year at a new high school media center rather than at the board's central office. "However, a week later, the board posted a notice of a special meeting at the old central office location and stated that the meeting would be held at the new high school media center. But it was not; it was conducted instead at the board's central office. "The appeals court upheld a trial court's finding that the school board violated the Open Meetings Act... The court also agreed that the board's position in the case was not substantially justified and, in fact, was 'seemingly cavalier.' The trial court assessed attorneys' fees against the school board." Mercer Police arguments likely in January It appears that an important Georgia open government case being watched by activists and editors nationwide will be argued in the Georgia Court of Appeals in January 2005. Atlanta attorney Amanda Farahany's lawsuit, Farahany v. Mercer Police, challenges the secrecy of the law enforcement records of the private university in Macon. Judge L.A. McConnell Jr. ruled in February 2004 in favor of openness. "If Mercer did not police its property, a police force of the local government would, and the records at issue would be available to the public," Judge McConnell wrote. "The court finds that the public's interest in safety and in the transparency of public affairs outweighs Mercer's interest in protecting the privacy of the university and its students." The Georgia First Amendment Foundation led in filing the brief in support of open government. "There can be no excuse for the non-exempt police records of the MUPD to be hidden from the citizens of Georgia," according to the amicus brief. " Appellant's board of trustees chose to create a campus police department and authorized that police department to exercise public police powers pursuant to the authority of O.C.G.A. section 20-8-2, and then obtained certification of its officers so that they could exercise arrest and other public police functions on campus. "Under the Open Records Act, records maintained relating to exercise of such public functions are subject to public scrutiny. "This is an important case. The non-exempt records as to the exercise of the police power of Georgia should be open to the citizens of this state, whether the police department is one of the state itself or one exercising the state's police power... "The Mercer University Police Department cannot hide its exercise of its public function behind the skirts of its private university parent. "It is respectfully submitted that Judge McConnell's well-reasoned decision on this important issue should be affirmed." |
