The legal battle over whether two non-profit entities that help run Piedmont Park are required to open their books to the public, including their plans for building a parking deck in the park, is to resume today in Fulton County Superior Court.

A lawsuit filed in January by Atlanta resident Doug Abramson and the group he leads, Friends of Piedmont Park, Inc., contends the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Piedmont Park Conservancy are subject to the state's Open Records Law. The two groups say they are not subject to the law.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia First Amendment Foundation and Atlanta Press Club filed court briefs Tuesday in support of Abramson's position.

The case "involves a matter of utmost importance to the public," said Hollie Manheimer, a lawyer for the First Amendment Foundation. "These institutions are public entities, the actions they take are of keen interest to the public, and for all these reasons the authors of the [briefs] felt they need to step in at this juncture."

Michael Coleman, a lawyer for the Atlanta Botanical Garden, said the garden's books are not subject to the open records act.

"This deck is being constructed solely by the Atlanta Botanical Garden, not by the city of Atlanta or the Piedmont Park Conservancy, to solve a longstanding parking problem," Coleman said. "We believe the law is clear that the open records act does not apply to a purely private entity discharging a private function."

The case is being heard by Fulton Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford.

Reprinted with permission from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 09/12/07.