An Alabama newspaper publisher and reporter are arrested and sound the alarm
A newspaper publisher and reporter in Alabama was arrested last week and charged with disclosing grand jury evidence in an article, alarming press freedom advocates who raised First Amendment concerns.
Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy filed felony charges against Sherry Digmon, the publisher and co-owner of Atmore News in Atmore, Alabama, and Don Fletcher, a reporter, based on an article that the newspaper published on October 25.
Mr. Fletcher reported in the article that Mr. Billy had been investigating the local school board’s handling of federal money for coronavirus pandemic relief. Citing documents obtained by the newspaper, Mr. Fletcher reported that Mr. Billy had issued a subpoena for financial records related to the investigation. It was not clear how the newspaper obtained the documents.
Ms. Digmon, 72, and Mr. Fletcher, 69, were arrested Friday and charged with disclosing grand jury evidence in the article. They were released on $10,000 bonds.
A school accountant, Ashley Fore, was charged with the same crime after she “provided grand jury investigative information to members of the media,” according to a criminal complaint.
The matter is further complicated by Ms. Digmon’s dual role: not only does she publish Atmore News, a weekly newspaper with a circulation of about 1,300 copies, she is also a member of the school board in question. She was also charged with two ethics violations related to her position on the school board.
One of the ethics charges accuses Ms. Digmon of using her board position to sell advertisements in another of her publications, Atmore Magazine; the other accuses her of using her position to solicit paid advertising from subordinates within the school system.
In both cases, Ms. Digmon had a “financial gain” of more than $2,500, the indictment said.
Press advocates have raised concerns about the allegations related to the Atmore News article, saying newspapers were free to publish information about grand jury investigations as long as they did not use illegal means to obtain it.
“The First Amendment protects the right of newspapers to publish truthful speech on matters of public interest — categorically in principle,” said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
“If the Nixon administration could not jail journalists who printed the Pentagon Papers,” Mr. Jaffer added, “the Alabama district attorney cannot jail journalists who write stories about the Atmore, Alabama, school board.”
The National Press Club, a professional organization for journalists, has called on local authorities to drop charges against Ms Digmon and Mr Fletcher.
“Journalists in the United States have the right and responsibility to report information of public interest to their communities,” the group said. a statement. “That is exactly what Don Fletcher and Sherry Digmon did when they reported and published an article on October 25 about an investigation into a local school system’s use of federal Covid funds.”
Mr. Billy did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. He told another local newspaper: The Atmore Progresson Saturday that Ms. Digmon, Mr. Fletcher and Ms. Fore broke the law by disclosing grand jury information.
“It’s not allowed,” Mr Billy told the newspaper, adding: “You just can’t do that, and there’s no reason for it. Innocent people are being exposed, and that is causing a lot of problems for people.”
Earnest White, a lawyer for Ms. Digmon and Mr. Fletcher, called the allegations “politically motivated.”
He pointed out that Mrs. Digmon, as a member of the school board, had done so voted on October 12 not to renew the contract of the school inspector, whom Mr. Billy had publicly supported.
“I can’t prove that was the case,” Mr. White said. “But it all stinks.”
Ms Digmon declined to comment. Reached by telephone at the newspaper office, Mr Fletcher said Ms Digmon was “obviously disturbed by this because she is a strong Christian person. As for me, I am of course also concerned.”
Ms. Fore’s attorney, C. Daniel White, also declined to comment.
The charges against Ms. Digmon and Mr. Fletcher come not long after a case involving a local newspaper in Kansas also raised First Amendment concerns.
In August, police officers and deputies searched the offices of The Marion County Record — as well as the homes of the editor and a city council member — and collected computers, cellphones and other materials.
The searches were part of an investigation into how the newspaper obtained and handled a document containing information about a local restaurant owner and whether her privacy was violated in the process, authorities said.
The province’s top prosecutor later said there was not enough evidence to support the raid and that all devices and materials obtained in the search would be returned.
Anthony L. Fargo, director of the Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies at Indiana University, called the actions of authorities in both Kansas and Alabama “disturbing.”
“This idea of going after the messenger is a dangerous idea,” he said, “and the press must do what it can to fight back against it.”