News - Gail Flake

Every so often, a judge seems to forget the government's responsibility to remain transparent and above-board to its constituents. After all, being judges, they can decide unilaterally when to prohibit cameras, embargo victims' names and seal records. Such measures often are necessary to protect the interests of private individuals — but DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones is a very public individual and doesn't qualify for that kind of protection.

If Jones' complaints are correct and the grand jury that recently spent six weeks looking into questionable county spending was, indeed, out to smear his reputation, that's a shame. But even if the investigation was the "witch hunt" that Jones' lawyers say it was, the facts remain that the grand jury had the authority to conduct it and the public has the right to see the final report.

Last week, however, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Gail C. Flake took the unprecedented move of ordering the Jones report off-limits, closing the hearing in which attorneys argued over whether the grand jury's findings should be censored to spare Jones any embarrassment and even withholding the letter in which the CEO's lawyers asked for the report to be suppressed.

Certainly, it'd be a raw deal for Jones if the grand jury turned a valid concern over the cost of providing him with round-the-clock police protection into an irresponsible political hatchet job. But we won't know if that's the case until the report is released.

In the meantime, Jones' forces are allowed to accuse District Attorney J. Tom Morgan of manipulating the grand jury into going after Jones. And we doubt that Judge Flake can be very objective when dealing with Morgan, who led a three-year investigation that put her husband, corrupt former Sheriff Pat Jarvis, behind bars. Jarvis, an ex-Braves pitcher, served a 15-month sentence and paid $40,000 in fines for taking contractor kickbacks during his years in office. Dare we label this a conflict of interest on Flake's part?

Surely, the judge must be aware that any ruling that denies the public access to the report would be viewed as a cover-up. Not that it matters much now. Over the weekend, the AJC ran a story summarizing the forbidden report, which was predictably critical of Jones' security detail. Keeping this report secret has now become what a lawyer would call a moot point.

The Weekly Scalawag is now accepting nominations. E-mail scott.henry@creativeloafing.com.