Reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun.
From 1967 to 1981, Hanst covered the Supreme Bench (now the Circuit Court) of Baltimore City during a time of immense change and drama. The court's caseload expanded exponentially during this period; the bench added its first female and African-American judges, and the legal system had its first African-American state's attorney. In addition, Hanst covered such momentous events as the round-the-clock trials held in the wake of the Baltimore riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in April 1968, and many notable cases of the period, including ones involving alleged municipal corruption. He became known for "Court Docket," the daily report that covered the most serious, dramatic cases handled by the Baltimore criminal courts, as well as offbeat and funny issues that found their way to legal disposition. Hanst preferred that the stories in the "Court Docket" be unique, ones not obtained by his "competitors" at the Sun and the News American; but he insisted on covering every homicide case, even if the other papers did, because murder, he said, was "the ultimate crime."
From the description of Papers of George H. Hanst, 1958-1988. (University of Maryland Libraries). WorldCat record id: 52635313