A representative for the state’s school board association says she is concerned over timing of the arrest of an Escambia County School Board member following a controversial vote on a superintendent’s contract.

Sally Smith, executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, said in a statement to AL.com last week that she is concerned with the timing of the indictment of Sherry Digmon, 72, a member of the Escambia County School Board who voted 4-3 in support of not renewing Superintendent Michele McClung’s contract.

“There is much speculation about the board’s recent decision not to extend the superintendent’s contract,” Smith said in the statement on Thursday. “The timing of this action—partly based on years-old allegations is concerning. It would be a profound disservice to the citizens of Escambia County and public servants everywhere if the recent vote and criminal charges are related. Reasonable people can agree or disagree with the board’s decision, but it is the board’s duty to make these decisions without undue influence or fear of retaliation.”

Politically motivated?

Digmon’s arrest and indictment came after a heated Oct. 12 school board meeting in which Escambia County District Attorney Steve Billy vocally backed McClung before the board voted to not renew her.

Digmon, co-owner of The Atmore News, and Don Fletcher, 69, a reporter at the publication, were both charged with felonies for allegedly revealing grand jury evidence in an Oct. 25 newspaper story. The issue is related to the non-renewal of McClung’s contract. Also charged with revealing grand jury evidence is Ashley Fore, 47, a bookkeeper at the school system.

Digmon is also facing two counts of ethics violation for using her school board position for “personal gain by selling ads” in the Atmore Magazine and/or Grace Publishing LLC, which she has financial interest in, and receiving a financial gain of more than $2,500.

Ernest White, Digmon’s attorney, says the charges are politically motivated, and are aimed at Digmon only after she voted down McClung’s contract.

He said the intention is to spread fear. And he said Digmon and Fletcher did not release grand jury evidence. He said the duo is being charged for printing a news story on it.

“Someone else leaked it,” White said.

Smith said that AASB will not comment on the substantive charges since “we don’t know all the facts, and they are just that at this point — charges.”

Billy and McClung did not return calls for comment last week. Billy has also not spoken to national media organizations who have highlighted the charges against journalists, quoting press freedom groups who urge Billy to drop what they view as unconstitutional charges.

Billy has been District Attorney in Escambia County since 2004, first elected as a Democrat. He was re-elected in 2010 and 2016 without opposition before switching to the Republican Party and running again for re-election in 2022.

Digmon ran for the school board in 2022 as a Republican.

Comparisons with Kansas

Media ethics advocates and experts are concerned over the case, and have compared the investigation in Atmore with the Aug. 11 raid of The Marion Record in Kansas that sparked a national debate over press protections offered under the First Amendment.

That controversial police raid occurred after local officials accused the journalists of obtaining and publishing private records. Authorities also raided the home of the newspaper’s publisher.

The 98-year-old mother of the publisher died one day after police raided her home. The county attorney, less than a week after the raid, withdrew arrest warrants and ordered the seized materials be returned. The police chief who ordered the raid resigned over a “personal matter” in early October.

Jared Schroeder, associate professor of journalism at the University of Missouri, said the actions by authorities in Atmore “stops the presses in some way,” and “creates fear.” As part of Digmon and Fletcher’s bond, they are not allowed to discuss the school matter.

“This is a growing trend,” Schroeder said. “I care a lot about local journalism, and it’s needed more than anything in this country right now. It’s not all about New York and Washington, but it matters in the middle of the America. Because news organizations have less resources and politicians have beaten up on journalism for so long, it trickles into serious concerns over free expression.”

He added, “This and the Kansas (raid) are good examples of public officials trying to leverage laws to limit the press.”

Press freedoms

Schroeder said that past case law more than grants small newspapers like The Atmore News the right to publish stories. Press rights advocates have said that grand jury information is fair game to run in news articles as long as the journalists did not use illegal means to gain the information.

Courts have long upheld press freedoms. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Nixon Administration did not overcome the “heavy presumption against” prior restraint of the press in the release of the Pentagon Papers, which exposed classified Defense Department’s documents on the history of U.S. military action in Vietnam.

“I’m pretty sure divulging secrets about a national war is a bigger deal than what is going on (in Atmore),” said Schroeder.

In 2020, former President Donald Trump’s tax returns were leaked to The New York Times and published ahead of the election. A former IRS contractor has since pleaded guilty on federal charges for stealing the records.

“It was private information that was stolen,” he said. “No one sued The New York Times for that.”

Robbyn Taylor, director of the school of journalism and an instructor of media law and ethics, said it’s worth asking why there is any attempt to “silence” the media.

“Sometimes news isn’t beneficial to law enforcement, and it doesn’t make it fake news or wrong to put out because someone doesn’t agree with it or make an entity look bad,” Taylor said. “This (case in Atmore) is being as an attempt to dissuade other journalists from pursuing the truth, or investigating things or publishing wrongdoings.”

She added, “We’ve heard a lot of negativity regarding journalists especially from politicians calling them ‘enemy of the people.’ It emboldens others to harass and threaten journalist which is probably what is happening here.”