NC journalists file emergency appeal for access to Alamance County court hearings
A coalition of three news organizations, including The News & Observer, has asked the North Carolina Court of Appeals to force Alamance County courts to open judicial proceedings to the public, or at least a representative of the news media, so that a larger group can learn what happens inside the halls of justice.
On Friday, without explanation, the court denied the news organizations’ motion to expedite the case, as well as a motion from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to file an amicus brief in support.
Deep public distrust in the criminal justice system has been on frequent display this year, with waves of protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May. In Graham, the seat of Alamance County, protesters have frequently taken to the sidewalks of Court Square to highlight systems and outcomes they see as unjust. Dozens of protesters have been arrested.
The courts have previously held that reporters act as surrogates for the public, their stand-in “eyes and ears.” But judges in Alamance County have not made provisions for journalists to serve that role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the guarantees of the First Amendment and the state constitution’s promise that “All courts shall be open,” reporters covering this year’s demonstrations in Graham have not been allowed to observe the related judicial proceedings. Court staff have explained a policy that limited entry to defendants, victims and attorneys due to COVID-19.
District Court Judge Fred Wilkins has barred journalists from attending two high-profile hearings in the past two weeks.
On Dec. 2, he denied reporters’ request for entry to a hearing about the bail conditions for Rev. Greg Drumwright, who led four racial justice marches this year in Graham, including an Oct. 31 march to the polls in which participants were repeatedly pepper-sprayed and several were arrested.
County authorities subsequently charged Drumwright with two felonies and argued that he was “a danger to the community” and should be banned from county property as a bail condition.
On Tuesday, Wilkins blocked journalists from attending a hearing in another case that Black Lives Matter supporters had been closely watching. Sandrea W. Brazee, a white woman who was accused of driving her pickup truck at two 12-year-old girls of color, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. One of the victims was the 12-year-old daughter of activist Faith Cook, who was vocal about her dissatisfaction with the investigation and prosecutors’ decision not to pursue felony charges.
Tom Boney Jr., the publisher of the Alamance News, was allowed into court Tuesday to lodge a formal objection with the judge on behalf of his publication, a conservative weekly newspaper based in Graham; The News & Observer; and Triad City Beat, an alternative newsweekly that has also been covering the protest movement.
When Boney tried to explain why the courtroom should not be closed to reporters, Wilkins threatened to hold him in contempt. The publisher was handcuffed, but ultimately released without a citation.
In Thursday’s legal filing, attorneys for the three news organizations asked the Court of Appeals to order Alamance County courts to stop barring reporters and other members of the public and instead let them attend court proceedings.
The filing notes that signs outside the county’s courthouses indicate that only defendants and victims can go inside.
“Dispensing justice behind closed doors not only is unconstitutional; it undermines public trust in the judicial process,” the attorneys from Stevens Martin Vaughn and Tadych argued.
“Even accepting that the COVID-19 pandemic creates a compelling need to safeguard public health by imposing some limits on access to courtrooms, the draconian restrictions imposed by Judge Wilkins were not necessary to serve that interest,” lawyer C. Amanda Martin wrote in the petition for an emergency writ of mandamus.
“Any of a multitude of more narrow measures could have been taken to preserve both the safety of individuals in the courtroom and the public’s rights under the North Carolina and U.S. constitutions.”
Among the possibilities discussed were pool reporting arrangements and streaming video.
The attorneys asked for a quick decision because several additional cases stemming from Black Lives Matter protests are set to be heard in the next few weeks.
One of those cases involves Tomas Murawski, a reporter for the Alamance News who was arrested on Oct. 31. His next court date is listed as Dec. 14.
The timing of the upcoming hearings was thrown into question Friday when Cheri Beasley, the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, announced that “in-person, non-essential court proceedings” would be postponed for 30 days due to rising COVID-19 infections.
“Throughout the pandemic, we have moved an unprecedented amount of court work online, including hearings,” Beasley is quoted as saying in a news release. “Those efforts will allow us to limit in-person proceedings for the next few weeks while making sure our courts stay available to serve the public.”
It’s unclear what effect Beasley’s order will have on proceedings in Alamance County.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 7:59 PM with the headline "NC journalists file emergency appeal for access to Alamance County court hearings."