No disciplinary action will be taken against the drunk-with-power DeKalb County deputy who illegally ordered me to leave public property Friday afternoon and thus, inadvertently, became the star of my first foray into "citizen journalism," a short film called "Meet Deputy Sawyer" -- which you can watch here.
Let's just say Deputy Sawyer -- whose first name remains unknown at this writing -- did not react well when I began using a small video camera to document the early closure of an entire courthouse last Friday, with almost no advance warning to the public.
A public that happened to include me.
The inimitable Rich Eldredge put together a terrific recap of the debacle in his Atlanta Magazine blog yesterday and, as you'll see, he even caught an unintentionally hilarious contribution from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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| Click here to read Rich Eldredge's blog. |
I certainly wouldn't say the video has gone viral -- although a lot of people seem to have seen it, and Galloway is far from the only blogger to pick it up. It's being widely circulated in what's known as the "alternative" media. Alex Jones, one of the big names among conspiracy theorists, maintains a website called infowars.com, and I'm told there's discussion of "Meet Deputy Sawyer" in one of his forums.
It's also found its way into the mainstream media. Jon Shirek used the footage in this story Friday on 11Alive, promising to follow up -- and the station did just that on Tuesday morning when Recorders Court Reopened.
Thus, thanks to my new hero, tenacious 11Alive reporter Duffie Dixon, we now have a few answers:
The "official" response is unbelievable -- in both the figurative and literal sense of that word.
Not only did a number of DeKalb County employees get the jump on a nice, long holiday weekend last Friday by closing down an entire courthouse and locking out the public, it turns out the woman responsible for that spectacularly bad decision is still on vacation.
Nelly F. Withers -- who, ironically, vowed to "reform" Recorders Court when she was named Chief Judge last year -- apparently won't be back at work until Thursday.
However, in absentia (and with considerable sanctimony), she apparently issued this unsigned statement, justifying her order to lock citizens out at 2:30 p.m. -- two hours before scheduled closing time:
Assuming she actually did write this -- and I have no reason to believe otherwise -- the judge either lying or so completely misinformed that she has no idea what's going on in the building she runs.
"Less than 15 people were turned away by the early closing," the statement says.
Well, I was there, lady -- and I didn't see you standing around, taking a head count. In fact, I'm pretty darn confident you were long gone. I did, however, see dozens of very frustrated citizens show up before 4:30, the scheduled closing time, stunned to find the doors of Recorders Court locked.
By the judge's own statement, "This court handles over 200,000 citations a year." Is it reasonable to believe she is precognitive and somehow knew this steady stream of humanity would stop pouring in and slow to the barest of a trickles on the afternoon of Friday, July 1? Or is it more reasonable to believe that she just doesn't give a shit about them or how much they were inconvenienced?
She almost admits it.
Read her statement and it will tell you all you really need to know about this judge. She makes a point of saying that anyone who actually showed up at Recorders Court did so because they have a suspended license, or -- like me -- missed a court date. In other words, scumbags. So, what's the big deal?
At the risk of being overly picky, the judge's grammar is incorrect, too... in a way that happens to objectifiy human beings. The word "less" is used to measure quantities that can't be counted individually. "Fewer" is the right word for counting people.
Even if Judge Withers is correct, and only 14 people were turned away, in my book that is 14 people too many.
As for "placing the payment in the drop box" -- something she suggests idiots like me should have done -- Judge Withers is correct. However, to do that, you have to have a certified check and you have to trust the people who work at Recorders Court to process it correctly.
An anonymous blogger put up a scathing post headlined "Public Locked Out of DeKalb Recorders Court As Government Workers Go Home Early" on DeKalb Officers Speak, an informative and somewhat frightening blog established in 2008 in order for law enforcement enforcers, their families and friends to "hold discussions, post news and vent without fear of retribution."
Among other things, it says:
"The Honorable Judge Nelly F. Withers, just another clown in a black robe."
Judge Withers, personally chosen for the job by DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis and hired by the County Commission, is doing the job they want done. She is collecting money. That's all they care about, and as long as her methods generate revenue, they will allow her to mistreat the public or do pretty much anything else she wants.
And, look, I totally understand why Judge Withers wanted a week off. DeKalb County Recorder's Court is a true Hell Hole.
I returned there when it reopened Tuesday, and this time was allowed inside. As both a reporter of over 30 years and, occasionally, as someone involved in a case, I've been in hundreds of courthouses and public buildings, and never have I seen a place so completely wretched.
Actually, that's not quite true.
The border crossing of Nicaragua and Costa Rica was as bad. Not worse, but as bad.
A comment from the reader of an article in the DeKalb Champion echoes the experience I had yesterday, although I made it out a little quicker.
"I just spent about 6 hours of my life standing - not sitting - in a long line waiting to pay a ticket that I took care of in 2003," a woman calling herself Michelle wrote here. "The stories people told are unbelievable."
What's interesting is that wasn't written in the last couple of days. It was posted on January 5, six months ago.
Any other reporters out there want a bunch of really good stories?
Go to DeKalb Recorders Court and stand around, even for half an hour or so. The other folks in line talk to each other very openly about their cases, and most of what I heard made me glad my problem wasn't as bad as the ones I heard. These are, for the most part, decent people who simply have been unfortunate enough to be accused of traffic offenses in DeKalb County, and now are being subjected to treated miserably.
At this late date in my life and career, nothing should come as a surprise, but I'm disappointed in Tom Brown.
On Tuesday, the elected Sheriff of DeKalb County sheepishly acknowledged the incident in his TV interview with Dixon, but also downplayed it -- or, to put it more bluntly, blew the whole thing off and implied it was no big deal.
That's exactly what was predicted Saturday the DeKalb Officers Speak blog:
"The sad part about this story is that no one will be held accountable."
Until now, I've had a great amount of respect for Sheriff Brown.
For starters, he didn't kill anybody to get the job. And, where I live, you can't say that about everybody who has been sheriff.
Although not included in her report, Dixon told me over the phone the sheriff made a point of saying he was familiar with my name and that he implied the videotape in "Meet Deputy Sawyer" could have been selectively edited.
One reason Sheriff Brown knows my name is that I called his office on Friday, from the lobby downstairs, immediately following the incident, asking to file a complaint. I spoke at some length to his executive assistant, who was extremely polite and apologetic, and who promised me either the sheriff or someone else would look into the matter and call me back quickly.
That's a call I never got.
And, as someone with a long career built on a reputation for integrity, I take great offense to any implication I somehow manipulated video to make the situation look worse than it really was.
For the record, here's exactly what was said when I asked when the decision to close Recorders Court early was made:
"I'm not going to answer you, either, and now I'm fixing to ask you to leave my property."
ME:
"You're asking me to leave public property?"
SAWYER:
"No, this is police property. I'm asking you to leave my property, yes, sir."
The smug, dismissive reaction of Sheriff Brown bears out one of the comments from a reader of Jim Galloway's blog in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which mentioned the story and posted a link to the video:
"The arrogance of some of these government employees is maddening and something many citizens won’t soon forget."
So, "Meet Deputy Sawyer" remains the sad-but-true story of scary, abusive people who are paid with tax dollars but can not really be called public servants, because they have no regard for the public and no intention of serving anybody a thing.
I did manage to pay the fine for my ticket without getting arrested, so that, at least, is something.
