What was Judge Zagel thinking?

I took a train to downtown Chicago, early morning on June 8. Destination: Dirksen Federal Courthouse to see opening statements on the Blagojevich trial. Arriving on the 25th floor I discovered that all general public admission tickets had been handed out and that the trial could be heard in an overflow courtroom, 2541.

The hallway of Floor 25 was quite the show, filled with all media personalities imaginable, present and past, all trying to get into the smallest of three courtrooms, 2503, to see Judge James Zagel hold court over a very high-profile case. I learned that only 34 tickets had been available to the general public because the much larger courtroom 2525, which had been used in the mob trials, had not been used.

If the courtroom proceedings were allowed to be televised, which they were not, the guarantee of a public trial could be fully realized. It is the judge's discretion, which courtroom he will use. In one of Illinois' highest profile cases, I have to wonder why Courtroom 2525 was not used; what was Judge Zagel thinking?

Paula McGowen

Glen Ellyn