April 4, 2000

Taxi Court Still Closed to Public

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has not yet opened its court hearings to the public, despite a court ruling a month ago saying it should do so.

The agency allowed the media to view two hearings yesterday, after Public Advocate Mark Green showed up with a band of reporters and TV cameras at the TLC's Long Island City offices.

Agency officials said Green and the reporters were allowed inside as a "courtesy," and the public would not be permitted to watch hearings regularly.

"This was simply a matter of accommodation," said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg.

To critics, the case is part of a pattern of Giuliani administration procedures that restrict First Amendment rights. The TLC has also been criticized in the past for holding secret meetings in violation of the state's open meetings law.

A state judge ruled on March 2 that the TLC could not show why it should be exempted from state policies that require government proceedings to be open to the public. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Daniel Ackman, a lawyer and student at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism who was denied access to commission hearings in January.

The agency still hasn't opened its hearing rooms, saying city lawyers are drafting a court agreement that outlines how the process will be opened. Both Ackman and city lawyers have submitted agreements for Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Stanley Parness to consider.

The city's proposal includes a provision that would allow the TLC to bar the public from entering hearings on a case-by-case basis.

Ackman and Green argued that it was illegal for the TLC to close the hearings in the first place.

"A government agency is not allowed to hold private hearings. That's the law," said Green, who plans to run for mayor in 2001.

The agency began enforcing the policy in 1994, saying restrictions are necessary because of the volume of cases, small hearing rooms and potential disruptions by outsiders.

At the heart of the issue are the rapid-fire administrative hearings known as taxi court, where drivers challenge summonses issued for traffic infractions, violations of TLC rules and complaints from passengers. In 1999, more than 134,000 hearings were held in taxi court. Because of the large volume of cases, hearings generally last no more than 10 minutes.

The city's 75,000 taxi and livery drivers have long argued that the administrative law judges who conduct the hearings refuse to accept their evidence and deem drivers' testimony not credible. Drivers also complain that they miss work shifts because they're forced to wait five or six hours for their cases to be heard and for judges to make decisions.

One of yesterday's hearings involved Levon Davtyan, a livery car owner, who was cited for allowing his TLC inspection sticker-which must be renewed every four months-to expire. He was found guilty and fined $350.

In the other case, livery driver Laming Kaba was found guilty of failing to display his vehicle license and was fined $15.

Green also is considering suing the TLC to force it to provide detailed statistics about the types of violations issued against drivers.