Judge blocks journalists’ access to Alamance hearings, despite First Amendment objections
The publisher of the Alamance News was handcuffed in court Tuesday as he objected to a judge’s decision to block reporters from attending a hearing in a case that has been a focus for local Black Lives Matter activists.
Tom Boney Jr. was delivering a document written by C. Amanda Martin, an attorney representing him, along with The News & Observer and Triad City Beat, requesting a hearing on whether it’s appropriate to close the court to the media.
Reporters from The News & Observer and Triad City Beat had earlier been told that no journalists were allowed in Alamance County’s Historic Courthouse, where Judge Fred Wilkins was presiding over the case against Sandrea W. Brazee, a 52-year-old woman accused of driving her car at two girls of color.