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01 FEBRUARY 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@boonecountyfathers.org
INDIANA COURT, TOWN and COUNTY SUED for VIOLATING PUBLIC ACCESS LAW
Boone County Superior Court Judge Rebecca McClure was sued Friday 01 February 2008 by Stuart Showalter a family rights advocate and government watchdog. The Boone County Superior Court II, the County of Boone and the Town of Thorntown were also named as defendants.
This lawsuit came about after McClure failed to comply with a directive from Indiana's Public Access Counselor (PAC) that stated McClure was to allow Showalter to listen to the court recordings of the proceedings in State of Indiana v Delisa Draper or provide him with a copy. Showalter is now contacting associates throughout the state to see if courts in their counties have the necessary equipment.
As for McClure, "She tried to get my board president convicted but the jury acquitted her in well under an hour", says Showalter. He states that getting a copy of the court recording where McClure says to Draper, "You have wasted . . . the jury's time" is crucial for the Indiana Supreme Court's investigation of the judge.
The PAC sided with Showalter and on 16 January 2007 issued an opinion advising the court to comply with Showalter's request. The court responded on 17 January stating that the court did not have equipment to make a copy of the tape. In a follow-up on 24 January 2008 by setting forth 7 conditions that Showalter would have to meet in order to exercise his right to access to the records. These were; 1) He must provide a phone number to the court where he can be reached. 2) He will have to wait for a call from the court when time is available. 3) He must return the call within two hours. 4) The judge or a designee will be in the courtroom with him. 5) He will have to sit in the gallery. 6) He will have the tapes played for him once with no stopping or rewinding allowed. 7) He may not bring his own equipment to make a recording.
In the suit Showalter alleges, "That the Defendants have colluded to deny the Plaintiff access to public records in an attempt to prevent Plaintiff and the public from obtaining information about alleged misappropriation of funds, lecherous acts by town employees, and illegal activities by officials in the Town of Thorntown and the Boone County court system. Additionally, Defendant McClure is attempting to prevent the Plaintiff from obtaining evidence to support complaints made against her with the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications for her violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct and due process rights of Delisa Draper and other criminal defendants.
The case, captioned as Stuart Showalter v Rebecca McClure, et al 06D01-0802-MI-0076, was filed in the Boone Superior Court I. Showalter plans to file a Motion for change of venue. All pleadings are available at http://www.boonecountyfathers.org/
Additional information about Judge McClure is available at http://www.boonecountyfathers.org/judgemcclure.html
