- Oct 17, 2011
- 33,309
- 36,627
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Atheist
- Marital Status
- Legal Union (Other)
When Don Fletcher checked the mailbox outside his newspaper’s office on Main Street in late September, he found a little gold mine waiting for him.Folded up inside was a copy of a grand-jury subpoena served on two employees of the local school system.
It took a couple of weeks to confirm, but Fletcher soon broke the news in the weekly Atmore News that officials were probing the Escambia County Board of Education’s handling of federal covid-19 relief funds.
Days later, the local district attorney ordered the arrest of Fletcher and his boss, Sherry Digmon, the News’ publisher and co-owner.
The arrests shocked legal scholars and press advocates, who say it’s a violation of the First Amendment to prosecute a newspaper for reporting the news. More specifically, they argue that District Attorney Stephen M. Billy misapplied Alabama’s secrecy law, which criminalizes leaks by anyone directly involved with a grand jury — jurors, witnesses, court officials — but not news outlets that publish the information.
The incident, she said, is part of a recent string of crackdowns on the press — from Marion, Kan., where police raided the local newspaper and its editor-publisher’s home to seize evidence after an allegation of illegally accessed state records; to Waverly, Ohio, where an editor was charged with illegal wiretapping for publishing audio testimony from a murder trial; to Calumet City, Ill., where city officials sanctioned a reporter for his persistent questioning.
It took a couple of weeks to confirm, but Fletcher soon broke the news in the weekly Atmore News that officials were probing the Escambia County Board of Education’s handling of federal covid-19 relief funds.
Days later, the local district attorney ordered the arrest of Fletcher and his boss, Sherry Digmon, the News’ publisher and co-owner.
The arrests shocked legal scholars and press advocates, who say it’s a violation of the First Amendment to prosecute a newspaper for reporting the news. More specifically, they argue that District Attorney Stephen M. Billy misapplied Alabama’s secrecy law, which criminalizes leaks by anyone directly involved with a grand jury — jurors, witnesses, court officials — but not news outlets that publish the information.
The incident, she said, is part of a recent string of crackdowns on the press — from Marion, Kan., where police raided the local newspaper and its editor-publisher’s home to seize evidence after an allegation of illegally accessed state records; to Waverly, Ohio, where an editor was charged with illegal wiretapping for publishing audio testimony from a murder trial; to Calumet City, Ill., where city officials sanctioned a reporter for his persistent questioning.
