Transit Authority Ordered to Open Hearings to Public

New York, NY —

A district court judge says New York City Transit must allow the public full access to the hearings of the Transit Adjudication Board. That's where low-level cases like hopping turnstiles, littering, and smoking in subway stations are tried. Chris Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union says it's an important step forward.

"We're concerned both about the fairness of the hearings and about the police enforcement tactics that are often disputed in these hearings, and when the public can't get in, there's no way of knowing if people are being treated fairly and what the police are doing," Dunn says.

Lawyers for the transit authority say the agency wanted to protect the privacy of people who challenge alleged violations, but the judge says it was unconstitutional to close 20,000 such hearings in 2008.

The decision came in a lawsuit brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union against New York City Transit.