SPRING 2005 NEWSLETTER
GEORGIA FOI ACCESS
GEORGIA FIRST AMENDMENT FOUNDATION

One after another, the Georgia officials feting Fletcher call for open government

By Tom Bennett

Atlanta, April 21, 2005 -- The Georgia First Amendment Foundation's Hollie Manheimer led as she, WAGA TV Fox 5's Dale Russell and WSB-TV cameraman Rick Nelson captured a trove of Norman Fletcher anecdotes in a memorable videotaping session at the Law Department in January. The anecdotes were recorded for the Georgia First Amendment Foundation's Jan. 29 Weltner Freedom of Information Banquet. It honored the outgoing Georgia chief justice.

Justice Leah Sears is replacing Fletcher as chief justice. She described how he made the court more open, and recalled Charles Weltner's strong influence on him. Ginny Looney, Fletcher's former Georgia Supreme Court law clerk, now is ethics officer for the City of Atlanta. Her admiration for the justice was clear when she recalled breaking into tears the one time when he rejected a draft viewpoint of hers in a case. And in a humorous moment, she remembered Fletcher the fitness and bike-riding enthusiast, dressed in Spandex and "his little hat" when pedaling the bike along the streets of Atlanta.

Mrs. Dot Fletcher, the chief justice's wife, said, "This is first time I've ever done anything like this" as she cooperated with Manheimer in preparing the video. Mrs. Fletcher told her story of how she and her future husband met while students at the University of Georgia. He was asked by a friend to contact her for a date. However, the young Fletcher asked her to go out with him instead. That was 48 married years ago. She provided hilarious personal photos for the video.

Irwin Stolz is an Athens attorney and former president of the State Bar of Georgia. He recalled how as president of his class in the University of Georgia Law School, Fletcher defied Student Council procedures to get what Stolz said was a better price on Law School class rings.  "It was a mini-student revolution," Stolz recalled. In the 1960's, Fletcher was a member of a Rome, Ga., firm. Stolz recruited him for the firm in nearby Lafayette where Stolz then was a partner. Fletcher further demonstrated his leadership abilities, Stolz said. He lost a legislative race when, by Stolz' account, the Dade County sole commissioner switched his allegiance with days to go in the race, and Fletcher was defeated. "So eventually instead of a governor, Georgia got a chief justice," said Stolz.

Each speaker drafted by Manheimer for this video tribute, without exception and with no prodding from her or the other committee members, volunteered a declaration of the importance of open government.  Dale Russell was gracious and thoughtful in the interviews. Rick Nelson hauled the camera and tripod on his hand cart up to the fifth floor of the Law Building. Later, he patiently and professionally recorded the tributes for the foundation. Nelson’s services were arranged by WSB-TV anchor Pam Martin.

 THE GROWING FLETCHER LEGACY

The justice's record on open government is one of the best. At the '05 Weltner banquet, he exercised a point of personal privilege to add one more majority decision of his to any list historians may consider. It is City of Atlanta v. Corey Entertertainment and Fouch v. Corey Entertainment, decided Oct. 23, 2004.

"The City of Atlanta and Barbara Fouch, d/b/a Creative Media Displays of Georgia... argue that the tax returns are exempted from disclosure under the Georgia Open Records Act because federal regulations prohibit their disclosure without Fouch's consent," Fletcher wrote. "Because federal regulations do not prohibit the disclosure of the documents, which fall within the purview of the Georgia Open Records Act, we affirm."

 EDUCATION BEGINS WITH TAKING A POSITION

The members of the General Assembly meet with laptop computers in front of them at their desks. Yet. on day 40 of the ’05 session, few organizations supporting open government had web site positions on bills affecting it.  Can the members use their laptops to quickly go to the organizations and know where they stand? Not very easily, it appears. Here's a rundown, in alphabetical order, of Georgia non-profit sites on the Internet that stated positions on sunshine bills this year: ACLU of Georgia No, Atlanta chapter of SPJ Yes, Georgia Association of Broadcasters No, Georgia Common Cause No, Georgia First Amendment Foundation Yes, Georgia Press Association No.

LAWMAKERS MAKE LAW, AND ADVOCATES LOBBY, WHILE TRYING TO RECALL EACH OTHER'S NAMES

Georgia General Assembly committee meetings need name plates.  HB 340 seeks to seal information about donations to public campuses' foundations. In Senate Education this year, the members at the table in the mezzanine meeting room had no nameplates identifying them. Neither did the parade of college presidents and fundraising officers appealing to them to block access to this information.

There IS a "Face Book" distributed by the press rooms. Introductions ARE made as persons begin testifying. However, as the words roll forth, the persons' identities can become lost in the shuffle. At the very heart of the Georgia political process, each person in the room is struggling to identify whomever it is they are addressing at the moment. "To the person who just spoke, I want to say..."

Meanwhile, in this HB 340 debate, the presidents and fundraisers were citing unnamed persons around the state. By their account, these parties had vowed that dire circumstances would occur bringing great harm to schools, if ever their donations to the gifts were disclosed to the public.

So Georgians were testifying to Georgia elected officials about what Georgians supposedly had said, and in all cases no one's identity was clear. And this produced what, if Gov. Perdue's makes good his vow to sign iit, soon will be a law.

25TH YEAR OF TITLE 50

Title 50, having much of the sunshine law, was codified in 1981, so 2006 will mark 25 years of it. Oft-amended and rarely edited, it has long run-on sentences of hundreds of words. Some are so long that it is hard to know what is, or where is the starting phrase. Are you reading an enumerated list of what is open, or what is closed? Although what's exempted from disclosure was envisioned to go in 50-18-72, in fact each year's crushing exemptions get appended onto parts forward of it.

GOV. PERDUE DIDN'T VOTE ON VET EXEMPTION

Gov. Sonny Perdue is a veterinarian by occupation, and there is a law directly benefiting his profession. It is O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(a)(2) stating that public disclosure is not required for "veterinary and similar files, the disclosure of which would be an invasion of personal privacy."  However, the law precedes the governor's service in the General Assembly, according to research in the state Law Library.

Perdue was elected to the Senate in 1990, so could not have voted on the mathematically easily to remember HB 1986 of the year 1986. It established "Privileged communications, exemption of records from public inspection, those concerning veterinary care."

The bill was sponsored by two Athens, Ga., representatives, Hugh Logan, a merchant, and Bob Argo, an insurance man, according to that year's "Face Book." It passed the House 111-0 and the Senate 58-1.  The only member of the General Assembly to oppose secrecy of veterinary records was Sen. Harrill Dawkins of Conyers, a lawyer and that year' chairman of Senate Judiciary and Constitutional Law.  Gov. Joe Frank Harris signed it into law. It's not an obscure footnote somewhere. It's the 24th and 25th words in 50-18-72.

AN OPEN-GOVERNMENT NEWSROOM

Georgians have the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer to thank for key open-record and open-court decisions in the courts. The newspaper added another when it obtained the records of a police shooting while arguing Columbus Ledger Enquirer et al v. Muscoge County Sheriff's Office et al.  "It appears that access to the records requested in this case has been affected," according to the Georgia Supreme Court's order Feb. 21.  "Nonetheless, the appellants assert that this appeal is not moot, contending that a claim for attorney fees under O.C.G.A. 50-18-73 (b) remains in the case. This case is hereby remanded to the trial court to determine the proprietary of any such claim."

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Managers for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Cox Enterprises held three positions of leadership in U.S. open government during the successful 2005 "Sunshine Week" emphasis around the nation in March.  They are Jay Smith, president of Cox Newspapers, who is vice-chairman of the Newspaper Association of America; Andrew Alexander, Cox Newspapers' bureau chief in Washington, D.C., who is this year's freedom of information chair for the American Society of Newspaper Editors; and Hyde Post, editorial director of ajc.com, who is president of both the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

Tom Bennett of the Journal-Constitution is a Georgia First Amendment Foundation volunteer.