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In documents filed last week, the publisher and co-owner and a reporter with the Atmore News, along with an Escambia County Board of Education board member and school board employee have filed a lawsuit in federal court that claims county officials violated their constitutional rights when they were arrested in 2023, according to court documents.
Attorney Jared McClain of the Institute for Justice, which is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said Atmore News Publisher and Co-Owner Sherry Digmon, Reporter Don Fletcher, Escambia County Board of Education District 4 Board Member Cindy Jackson and Board Employee Ashley Fore filed initiating documents for a lawsuit against District Attorney Steve Billy, Sheriff Heath Jackson, Deputy Arthur Odom, Deputy Kevin Durden, Deputy Matthew Rabren and Deputy Derek Lowry. Lowry was named the Flomaton police chief in May 2024.
McClain said the suit, which was filed in the United States District Court Southern District of Alabama Mobile Division, was for an alleged violation of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
“We’ve basically raised two claims, one under the First Amendment, and one under the Fourth Amendment,” McClain said. “The general theme is that on the arrest, they seized our clients’ phones, and arrested them in retaliation for their protected speech, for sharing their opinions about (former Superintendent) Michele McClung and for talking about her throughout the district, for having private conversations about her.”
McClain said the plaintiffs were allegedly targeted for their protected speech.
“All of our clients were arrested for revealing grand jury secrets, even though there was no grand jury,” he said. “Our clients didn’t have grand jury secrets, and they weren’t bound by any grand jury secrecy laws. It was just a complete sham investigation with bogus charges to silence our clients for their speech, to humiliate them and to degrade them, and put them in jail as punishment for standing up to Billy and Sheriff Jackson after they warned publicly that anyone who did so would face their wrath.”
After their arrests in October 2023, both Digmon and Fletcher were indicted soon after by an Escambia County grand jury for allegedly revealing grand jury evidence.
According to Advance archives, the October arrest stemmed from the publishing of an article appearing in Oct. 25, 2023 edition of the Atmore News, where a subpoena and COVID checks were mentioned, and “even called out some names,” Billy said then.
Around the same time last December, Jackson was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly revealing grand jury information. Fore was also arrested for allegedly revealing grand jury secrets.
Since then, all cases against the plaintiffs have been dismissed with prejudice, meaning they can’t be tried again for the same offense.
Recently, the State Attorney General’s Office and the Courts of Alabama dismissed Jackson’s felony charges with prejudice on April 24, 2024. Additionally, her felony arrest was expunged by the state of Alabama.
Fore, on behalf of the other plaintiffs, said they hope to hold public officials accountable who misuse the powers of their office.
“We’re looking to hold them accountable for the acts they put me and my co-plaintiffs through, from the arrest to the indictment to the searches, to just all of it. Now that everything has been dismissed with prejudice, it’s time to hold those that put us through all that accountable for what they did.”
On Wednesday of last week, the IJ published an article, “Small-Town Newspaper Punished for Its Reporting Fights for the First Amendment.” In the article, it details what the plaintiffs went through regarding their arrests and the dismissals. Additionally, the IJ produced a 10-minute video chronicling the case. Fore said in the video that she hopes to restore her dignity, adding that she feels the truth will come out.
When asked what the truth is, Fore said that a determination will be made as to why the public officials (defendants) did what they did, and why the actions were taken.
“Was there anyone instigating these actions?” Fore said. “And if so, who was that person who was the perpetrator behind all of this? You know, we have lived in this community with these individuals for years and years, and we were never called into question until recently.”
As to what happens next, McClain said the defendants have 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.
Jackson said his department does not comment on pending legal matters, but stated, “We look forward to our day in court to lay out the true facts.”
Billy has not responded to requests for comment as of press time.