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Chief Magistrate Davis Parkman unwilling to
produce public records Edgefielddaily.com web posted June 4, 2005 Edgefield Daily.com approached Chief Magistrate Davis Parkman and asked for weekly updates on convictions and dismissals of charges filed in Magistrate Court and was refused. Unbeknownst to Judge Parkman Edgefield Daily.com had already interviewed the staff of the Magistrate Court who said it was “easy” to produce a print off of the resolutions of matters before the court. “We print off a report once a month for SLED, we could run it just as easy for the week,” one employee told Edgefield Daily.com. Judge Parkman, however, is resolute, only individual cases by name or case number may be inquired about.. All proceedings in open court are public record and Edgefield Daily.com or anyone else is allowed access to this information. Edgefield County goes beyond this and ignores open court measures by not allowing the public to witness all cases before the magistrates. Citizens are held in a front lobby while court is conducted with only the state, the judge, and the participants in the case present. The move to the new chambers was to make court more accessible and the first thing they did was take accessibility of the public away. The public is corralled in the front lobby and court employees can only be reached through glass windows or locked doors. Such a directed weighing of influence over the citizen charged in any crime or violation becomes overwhelming that all the chips are stacked against them, and they are correct as far as Edgefield County Magistrate Court is concerned in that regard. Edgefield Daily.com has personally witnessed our magistrates refuse to allow evidence introduced into court that would have exonerated a defendant, continue a case that should have been dismissed, and fail to notify a victim of court date. Is there justice in the Edgefield County Magistrate’s Court? Overall the answer is maybe, but not in the general sense. The majority of speeding tickets, traffic violations, and even illegal aliens are ignored and settled for pennies on the dollar to improve conviction rates of the officers and the state. Not to mention the cash coming across the window. This is never so evident than it is with the conviction rates of the highway patrol. Anyone who has ever been given a traffic ticket in Edgefield County is well aware of the “let’s make a deal” intervention by the highway patrolman before court. Reduced fines from $125 to $25 for a guilty plea and some even greater reductions. Locked in a back room with a Highway Patrolman who is well known with the judge does not give one the sense of “justice” and unnecessary guilty pleas are entered. Mainly because no one else is there to hear the case, you are all alone, just them and you. Will Judge Parkman adhere to the law and release the court records? Eventually yes, he will have no choice. Edgefield Daily.com is here to report public information and the results of court records in this county and will make sure the magistrates court goes along. As is the favorite line of a highway patrolman who wants to search a car says, “If you have nothing to hide, why would you protest a search,” we agree in this case. At least the citizen has a Constitutional answer towards a “no”, the officer does not, and neither does the court. The Question remains, what is it that Chief Magistrate Judge Parkman fears from public disclosure of what transpires in his courtrooms? Everything Judge Parkman and Judge Carpenter does is public information and they cannot in any way refuse to disclose that information. Return to Main Page
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