∆ ESSE QUAM VIDERI! ∆
Whenever we use the phrase “sunshine” in discussions about government functions we are talking about public records, public hearings, and transparency in all government functions. We are talking about your right to know what YOUR government is doing with YOUR tax money.
Around 2007, a Charlotte, North Carolina television station, WBTV, aired a defamatory news story which featured Molly Grantham claiming that I made a video rapping about killing James Jordan, and claiming that I told Rob Tufano, their reporter who was embedded in Lanesboro Correctional Institution for a few days, that I was involved in his murder and robbery. I filed a civil lawsuit for defamation against them in Mecklenburg Superior court, in Charlotte.
In response their attorneys procured an affidavit from Luther Johnson Britt, who prosecuted my case in Robeson County, to support their motion to dismiss. His affidavit erroneously stated that at my trial, evidence was entered of me admitting involvement in the murder of James Jordan.
This is simply not true and very soon we will have the entire trial transcript up on this website so that you can see for yourself that it isn’t true.
Maybe the old man has a bad memory, I say that not to bust shots at the elderly (I’m not too far from those senior discounts myself) but because Mr. Britt calls me “That kid…” in interviews. The record speaks for itself. They were absolutely wrong and because of their stature no one would know that I didn’t say those things if I didn’t contest it in court, and publicize it as I am doing now.
That is the importance of our public records laws and of sunshine….It exposes that which is hidden, that is distorted by the shadows.
People died and were imprisoned for the right to have freedom of speech on forums like social media, public assembly, and open courts. We’re going to take you behind the scenes of a high profile case and how high profile cases are used to take away your rights, pass bad laws, put unqualified people in office and put money in the pockets of scam artists.
More importantly, I want to show how a tragic case like this can be used to let the sun shine into how we can transcend errors in judgment that we all fall victim to at times.
This effort is dedicated to the people of Elon College’s Sunshine Center. They were the ones who sent me educational material on the Federal Freedom of Information Act and North Carolina’s Public Records law, aka, the Sunshine Act, N.C. General Statutes 132.
SALUTE!