Old habits die hard.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the day Christians reserve to usher in the solemn season of Lent. It's a time of reflection and penitence as we prepare ourselves for Easter.
When I was a kid, it was always a time when we were encouraged to give something up, like a favorite candy.
As I morphed into adulthood, I would always contemplate may refraining from cursing, or perhaps giving up beer or alcohol.
Yes, I actually use to swear off having a beer for 40 days. Kind of took the sting out of St. Paddy's Day.
The swearing thing never lasts long. It's a bad habit. Lazy, actually. As a man of words, you would think I could up with something better than the usual expletive-laced outbursts that too often mark my presence in the newsroom.
Bless me father ...
One year, when I must have been hallucinating, I even contemplated giving up coffee. Hey, I'm mentally unstable, not insane.
I'm pretty much out of the "giving up things for Lent" business these days.
In this racket, we are taking things a day at a time.
Yes, the struggle is that real.
That is one of the reasons we don't particularly care for it when people put artificial, unreasonable impediments in place that make it harder to do our job.
This occupation is based on the people's right to know.
That's why we were so troubled at what happened in magisterial district court in Haverford last week.
We were actually there for the preliminary hearing for the teen charged with shooting an 18-year-old man in what police say was a drug deal gone bad.
But before that, a hearing was scheduled for a man charged with indecent exposure in connection with an incident in the sauna at the Haverford YMCA.
But Magisterial District Judge Robert Burke, labeling the case as dealing with a sensitive matter, decided to clear the courtroom. We concur that the case was sensitive. We disagree with clearing the court.
That's not the way this is supposed to work. Such court cases are supposed to be done in public. It's the people's business. It's not that we were even there to cover this story, but once the judge made his ruling, it became a story.
Reporter Rose Quinn correctly objected to the judge's ruling, which he noted. Burke indicated that both Assistant District Attorney Cassandra Taylor and defense attorney Edward J. Schwabeland had requested that the court be closed for the hearing.
Not a good idea.
In fact, District Attorney Katayoun Copeland seemed to concur, saying, "The Commonwealth did not ask for the courtroom to be closed or for the press to be removed."
For Lent this year, we will be proactive. We will continue to push to make sure the public's business is conducted in public.
We suggest Judge Burke join us.
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