The Quitman 10 and the Press

Patrick David reports from Macon, 7 Jan 2011, Quitman 10: New Year's Day protest march sends message to J. David Miller, GBI:

Approximately three hundred marchers converged onto the steps of the Brooks County Courthouse to send a public message that voter intimidation and voter disenfranchisement will not be tolerated.

This story has flown under the radar of the mainstream media, but the GBI in conjunction with Republican J. David Miller, the district attorney for the Southern Judicial District that represent majority-African-American towns such as Thomasville, Moultrie, Valdosta and Alma, is preparing to move forward in the targeting of ten African-American Brooks County citizens, otherwise known as the "Quitman 10".

I mentioned the day after the arrests (22 Dec 2010) that it was curious that the local newspaper, the Valdosta Daily Times, seemed to have nothing about that. At least WCTV and WALB reported the arrests, but they don't seem to be following the story since. Dean Poling did report in the VDT 24 Dec 2010 that Charges won’t keep Brooks school board members from serving:

“They will be able to serve on the board as a full member,” said Brad Shealy, the Brooks County Board of Education president.

George Rhynes seems to be the only one who has posted the names of the Quitman 10 (Angela Bryant. April Proctor, Elizabeth Thomas, Kechia Harrison, Latashia Head, Linda Troutman, Lula Smart, Nancy Dennard, Robert Dennard, Sandra Cody) along with the details of what they were charged with (various counts of Unlawful Possession of Ballots and of Violation of Procedure for Voting by Absentee Ballot).

And he draws a parallel:

Their arrest reminds me of May 5, 2005 when Valdosta City Mayor John Fretti, and Council arrested “The Valdosta 15 for addressing their public officials at a public meeting. However NOT a single person arrested were interviewed or mentioned in the press outside of the crime report. Therefore We must stand strong for right and NOT for unfair ruling handed down too often by South Georgia Judges in racial court cases. Even they may be the controlling patriots and Christians of this dispensation.

He links to a VDT story of 1 May 2006, Court rules arrests unconstitutional, Case involves 15 citizens arrested and charged with disrupting a lawful meeting

Valdosta Police Commander Johnnie Fason entered the council chambers and requested that all those who wanted to be arrested follow him. Of the 20 who left the council chambers with the police, 15 were arrested and placed in vans for transport to the jail. They spent the night in the Lowndes County Jail until bond hearings could be held on Friday. Rose was placed in solitary confinement for 24 hours, and all 15 citizens were released on bond.

When asked what the ruling meant for the future of Valdosta and Lowndes County during an interview with a Valdosta Daily Times reporter, Rose said, “It’s going to say to the City of Valdosta that citizens have the right for redress of grievances before this government and that right cannot be abridged by laws that subvert the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”

The story says the Valdosta City Council has since passed a different ordinance that its attorney says was modeled after one that was upheld by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

The specifics of the cases are not the same, but George Rhynes may have a point about lack of media coverage.

Back to the story posted from Macon:

Linda Troutman beat Gary Rentz twice--once as a primary opponent in July, and a second time with Rentz as a "write-in" candidate. Elizabeth Thomas accomplished the same feat against Myra Exum.

But it appears, Rentz's and Exum's name on the ballot may have broken a Georgia election law.

The law says only qualified write-in candidates can have their votes counted, and candidates who have run for the office in the primary and lost are not eligible to be a qualified write-in candidates.

Hm, I wonder why the GBI isn't investigating that, too.

-jsq