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The number of people in the courtroom belied the importance of the matter at a hand. One man was dead, and the life of another was in the hands of a dozen peers randomly chosen to decide his guilt or innocence.
The trial of Ryan Crisp took 2½ weeks to reach a guilty verdict for second-degree murder, which means Crisp, 51, is looking at spending the next 35-42 years in a state penitentiary. Fewer government proceedings carry as much weight as those that occur weekly in courtrooms across the country. Yet, the vast majority of it happens in the dark to the public.
As I listened to closing arguments on Feb. 15, I counted more than 20 people who had to be there as the judge, one of the attorneys, the defendant, jurors, clerks and law enforcement officers. In the gallery, only five people were seated – all on behalf of the victim, 22-year-old Kenneth Jones, who “still had his entire life ahead of him,” as his mother told the judge.
A matter of life and death was at stake here – and if the Cherokee Scout had not been there, it would have happened completely in secret to the public.
This is not unusual. Until recent times, when emotional issues like crypto mines caused attendance to increase, most board of aldermen, city council, county commission and school board meetings occurred with few people as witnesses other than your community newspaper.
What that tells me is if people really know what’s going on, more will get involved. That’s a positive development, as our government is only as good as the folks elected and hired to run it. Public officials need to hear feedback from a variety of people and perspectives in order to have a balanced understanding of the complex issues that come before them.
Spending the day in court brought me back to the first government meeting I ever covered for a newspaper, the Forest Park (Ga.) City Council. Since I didn’t have a clue how to do it, I thought I’d stay in the back row and quietly observe the proceedings without anyone paying attention to the 19-year-old cub reporter wearing jeans and sneakers because that’s all I had at the time.
That might have worked – if Forest Park City Hall had been packed with local residents. Instead, the only other three people with me in the audience that night were reporters for other newspapers and one woman, who glared at us in a way that made me think, “Hey, why is that woman glaring at us?”
Giving me an early lesson in community journalism, the woman spoke up during public comments to trash “the media” for accurately reporting what she had said during the council’s previous meeting a month before. “I had no idea when I spoke before this board that my words would be made public,” she said, which still cracks me up.
Another reporter passed me a note reading, “Has she ever heard of the First Amendment?” For a moment, I was more worried that the chair would make me stand up and read the note aloud.
While the vast majority of residents still prefer to read written summaries of what happens at public meetings, we know some people want to know even more, right down to the last detail. That’s why the Scout agreed to take over live-streaming the meetings 16 months ago, even though in other areas governments provide that as a public service.
Live-streaming takes a strong signal, which is why the Scout has purchased a 5G internet hotspot so we’ll be able to go live just about anytime, anywhere. We’ve also purchased a microphone to improve the sound quality, although we have little control over how loudly – or softly – folks speak when it’s their turn.
National Sunshine Week this year is from March 12-18, which coincides with March 16 being National Freedom of Information Day, when we celebrate our open government and public meetings laws – and the journalists who represent citizens in courtrooms and meetings.
Over the last 38 years, I’ve gotten a chance to cover just about everything that could possibly happen, yet I get still get surprised all of the time. One thing that’s not a surprise is in areas where the government is most effective, local officials have no fear of transparency.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on Twitter @daviddBstroh.