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School Board Member and Newspaper Publisher, School District Bookkeeper, Reporter Charged with Revealing Grand Jury Information
October 28, 2023
An Escambia County, Alabama School Board member, who is a weekly newspaper owner and publisher, one of her reporters and a school board bookkeeper, were arrested Friday on charges related to allegedly revealing grand jury secrets.
Sherry Digmon, 72, the District 6 school board member, school district bookkeeper Veronica “Ashley” Fore, and reporter Donald Eugene Fletcher, 69 were all released on bond after being booked into jail on charges of revealing grand jury information.
Digmon is co-owner and publisher of The Atmore News which reported October 25 that the local district attorney was investigating COVID funds paid to school system employees. The paper also revealed that Digmon’s phone and that of another school board member had been seized under a search warrant. Both had recently voted against renewing an employment contract with Superintendent of Education Michele McClung.
Pictured top: Sherry Digmon Donald Eugene Fletcher, Veronica “Ashley” Fore.
Comments
15 Responses to “School Board Member and Newspaper Publisher, School District Bookkeeper, Reporter Charged with Revealing Grand Jury Information”
@Bring Back- Sometimes tough votes must be made. Does not matter that the vote is unpopular with a select few.
I’m wondering what will happen when the Board of County Commissioners make their next unpopular decision. (?) . Will the purse strings make a difference? And the Good Lord knows how difficult it was to get candidates in the past. Just got harder!
Just Thinking
Looks like voting NO didn’t help you at all Digmon, hopefully the other three get their due diligence soon as well!!
Safe bear
I agree the Second Amendment isn’t relevant to the discussion here. While I disagree with your interpretation and I’m glad the Courts have too.
But
My answer was in response to a prior post by Curtis Parker who asked what about the Second Amendment.
@AC I’ve yet to read any Grand Jury deliberations and do not expect to. What I have read is the story of a DA, an unwitting accomplice in the Sheriff, and a local political group that apparently didn’t agree with the majority vote of a duly elected and independent board. We, as voters, have placed our trust in those board members. We trust that they will look at the issues of the day and exercise their best judgement. When we no longer have that trust, we can either run for election or support the candidate of our own choosing. Please bear in mind that the Right to Privacy may be the reason we are not privy to the Board’s deliberations. In the meantime, I encourage everyone else to “stay in your own lane”.
@Educate Yourself – are you a member of the Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy or Space Force? Those are the only “regulated” militia that should have weapons. A group of renegades with guns IS NOT. I’m also not sure what the 2nd Amendment has to do with this conversation.
Not sure what the 2nd Amendment has to do with anything; the 1st Amendment freedom of press maybe, but not at the expense of the 5th Amendment due process clause; nor of the right of privacy. Jury deliberations, especially those of the Grand Jury, are private and not to be published by news media outlets.
I support the Second Amendment too which states,
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The Grand Jury investigates corruption that someone wanted kept secret. By law, Grand Jury members cant reveal such information.
But it is the duty of the press to inform the people.
What about the second amendment?
And– who, is hiding what?
Ho,ho,ho…I hope you four that Voted against the superintendent when you get out of jail next week I hope you get your phones back by Christmas !!!
This superintendent needs to go! She has made things needlessly hard on those of us who have to purchase these Nazi uniforms such as waiting until days before school starts to add gray polo shirts which the stores did not order. The children cannot wear hoodies, but no one carries jackets without hoodies in the required colors. The children can only go to the bathroom once a day. Teddy Roosevelt was president during the Spanish American War ( not) and Americans thought the Cubans were white but they found out they were black(not) If you are born in Alabama and live in Alabama you are a Democrat and thats final (not) And all hispanics vote Republican. I have a lot of stupid inlaws who still vote Democratic. I was under the impression that an education was to teach children how to think not what to think!
Anyone in government or law enforcement in south alabama seems to be corrupt these days
Expose corruption and you go to jail.
Looks like the whole Escambia County Alabama School Board needs to be Investigated. I just bet someone knows more Information than those Individuals that got caught. Mrs.McClung should be put back into office ASAP while other and Every board member is Investigated. Corrupt Politics destroys good things.
Reading all the various news articles it appears a grand jury subpoena was issued to the school. Part of a grand jury subpoena provides that it can’t be disclosed. Grand jury information by law is secret.
So here we have a school board member/publisher and a school bookkeeper. Who disclosed what I don’t know. I’m not in law enforcement. The facts remains they published secret information.
Someone for whatever reason chose to disclose the matter being investigated and news articles published names of those persons presumably being investigated.
The reason grand jury investigations must remain secret is simple.
What if the grand jury looks at the matter and the persons committed no crime and no indictment occurs? Those that disclosed the information have cast those persons in bad light. Who gives them their good name back? A cloud has needlessly been cast on their integrity.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it isn’t always a duck.
Can anyone explain how they can be charged with this when they were not on the grand jury? How did they get the information? Really looks like retaliation for the no vote.