News 12 at 11 o'clock / Friday, Nov. 4, 2011

SPARTA, Ga. -- It was a tense scene outside a church in Sparta after a meeting about healing a broken community. Friday afternoon, News 12 showed lawyer Vic Hawk, of the Augusta Legal Center, the raw interviews.

"This was a public meeting. Warren County -- we had Warren County citizens here. We also extended an invitation to the football players," said Hancock County Board of Education Superintendent Gwendolyn Jefferson Reeves on one of the interviews.

The superintendent for Hancock County and Retired Judge Edith Ingram, who presided over the meeting, are upset with the media's portrayal of their team.

"Well, is that reason enough to not allow cameras in a public ... meeting?" asked News 12.

"Yes it is," said Ingram.

Hawk begs to differ.

"I'm sure those people up there are really good people, and there are lot of good people in that meeting, but you can't exclude the media just because you don't like what the media says," he said.

The superintendent claimed the church was the one not allowing cameras.

"But, it was a meeting that was open to the public. They wanted the public to be there. And the public includes the media," Hawk said.

But in order for it to be classified as a public meeting, a quorum, or simple majority, of elected officials needs to be there. News 12 asked the superintendent about who all was in attendance.

"All board members attended. All board members were here. We had the mayor. We had commissioners," Reeves said.

"In my capacity as an experienced media lawyer, it seems like a clear violation to me," said David Hudson of the Augusta-based Hull Barrett Attorneys.

He's been a media lawyer for 30 years. He says the Hancock County BOE broke the law by violating the Georgia Open Meetings Act.

News 12 cameras were the ones kicked out, but he and Hawk say the public is the real loser.

"It's a public meeting. Even if you're unable to attend, the public would like to know what was done," Hawk said.

Also at the meeting, News 12 reporter Chad Mills tried to take pictures inside after noticing that attendees were. He was told he could not do the same, because he was media. Both Hudson and Hawk say that's a big problem. They say that means they were being discriminatory and a whole new group of First Amendment issues could come up.

News 12 is also now in contact with the Georgia Attorney General's office.