Bob Cramer's Blog

It was quite a spectacle yesterday (Friday, Feb. 3^rd) at the Fulton County Courthouse as Judge Craig Schwall held a hearing concerning the operating control over the Task Force’s Peachtree Pine shelter and its 600 nightly residents while a much broader lawsuit meanders its way through court.

What made the hearing so astounding was that in 60 minutes, Judge Schwall blew through 25 years of history and well-known facts and in the process, soiled reputations that took a life time to build.  

Let see, where to start:  he said Anita and Jim Beaty have been in it for the money all along because they get paid $50,000 a year and he conveniently left out 40 years of non-stop love and care to thousands of homeless people.

He said that it was easy to create new shelters in Atlanta though no new shelters have opened in a decade and new legislation on the books limits the size of a new shelter to only 25 people.

He made the wild assertion (with absolutely no proof) that the United Way could suddenly take care of 600 extremely vulnerable people and the 200 to 300 new people who show up each month when they currently turn away dozens of people from their current facilities.

Before making his decision, he refused to consider all of the well documented evidence which shows, step by step, the mass conspiracy that purposely caused the Task Force to run out of money and the illegal foreclosure that followed.   He said all that could wait to be discussed at a later date, but his action yesterday, if left to stand, have irrevocable consequences.  

In my opinion, Judge Schwall simply wants to be done with this high-profile, controversial case, especially as he seeks re-election.   To his credit, he gave the Task Force another 18 months to stay in the building but that should have been a moot point because the foreclosure was wrong in the first place and a stay should remain in force until all the issues are heard.

Finally, Judge Schwall’s hastily proposed fix calling the United Way in to run Peachtree Pine is not thought out at all, nor is it documented or funded.   It is simply sloppy, arrogant and lazy, a high risk proposition that unnecessarily puts the lives of hundreds of people in real jeopardy.

Maybe Judge Schwall should descend from his high pedestal bench and actually visit the lowly shelter he seems to know so much about. Maybe he should also read the legal briefs that have been submitted.  Sometimes justice takes effort and yesterday’s proceedings mark a dark day in the quest for truth.

Thank God for an appeals court.