Excerpts as reported in the AJC from an exchange between Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter and Andrew Young during an April 7 court hearing:
Baxter: "It's probable if we take your route the case will never be tried."
Andrew Young (from the front row of the courtroom gallery): "Good."
Baxter: "Okay Mr. Young, you're going to need to go outside. I mean, you can't interrupt the —- I mean, you said 'Good'? You yelled out 'Good'?"
Young: "It would be merciful for this court, for these prosecutors, for this whole city if this trial never took place."
Baxter: "And everything just sort of go away?"
Young: "No, it won't go away, your honor."
Baxter: "Well, is that your wish, that it just vanish?"
Young: "No. The school system has repaired itself. The state has done everything it could to wreck a very good school system."
Baxter: "To wreck a good school system?"
Young: "Yes, they did. I mean, firing teachers without — threatening principals… . We got to put the city back together, your honor. And putting one person in or out of jail… ."
Young: "I'm just saying that it's a waste of taxpayers' money. She's got to stand before God before long. Both sides say it. Let God judge her… . I think justice has to have some mercy to it to be relevant."
Baxter: "Okay. Thank you, sir. … People, their careers ruined. And it was the saddest thing I have ever seen. … I believe it should proceed before a jury of their peers."
Excerpts from an April 28, 2013 AJC op-ed by Beverly Hall’s legal defense team:
Beverly Hall has spent literally her entire career in education advocating tirelessly for the very basic proposition that all children, regardless of socioeconomic circumstance, have the ability to learn. She had almost 30 years of teaching and educational leadership experience before she began at APS. Throughout her career in several districts, her basic approach has been the same — she supported teachers and her staff with professional development and coaching but always expected her students, regardless of circumstance, to learn. Her standards have always been high.
In the rush to judgment on Hall, we believe a number of fundamental truths essential to our democratic system and the rule of law have been overlooked. These truths include: Hall is presumed innocent.
Hall is a citizen who is entitled to certain basic rights. Whether you believe that she has engaged in wrongdoing or not, she is entitled to be tried in a court of law based on facts and evidence with the benefit of a judge and jury and not in the media. This is the fundamental right of every citizen in our country and it is being overlooked in this case. We believe that when Hall has her day in court, the charges, which we believe are excessive, will not be proven.
Atlanta public schools students have consistently progressed over the past decade.
Even setting aside the CRCT, Atlanta Public Schools students made significant and consistent progress on more rigorous federal testing done over the very same time frame as the CRCT period.
Hall did not order, direct or participate in any form of cheating on the CRCT or otherwise.
We believe the evidence will show that any cheating was a result of misguided individuals taking matters into their own hands, outside the vision or direction of Hall, for whatever reasons that were meaningful to them. The evidence will not show that Hall directed or suborned illegal behavior by teachers and administrators.
