Jessie Tompkins Stories

"Chief Probation Officer Bruce Howell Makes False Report of Threats to Aid  In Family

Court land consipracy "

Employees at two Montgomery County courthouses are being told to be on the lookout for a man who made threats against a family court judge on the radio, authorities say.

Jessie Tompkins denies making what a court administrator described as "subtle, innuendo-type" threats against Circuit Judge Patricia Warner on two AM radio talk shows and one FM talk show. But Tompkins admitted calling Warner a "crook."

Bruce Howell, administrator for Montgomery Juvenile Court, said he asked the Montgomery Sheriff's Department to issue "be on the lookout" fliers for Tompkins.

Tompkins, 45, is suing Warner and others in U.S. District Court over a child custody ruling.

Howell declined to discuss Tompkins' case because he is named in the federal lawsuit, but he noted there is increased security in courthouses nationwide because of recent courthouse shootings.

Last week, a family court judge was shot and wounded as he stood near a courthouse window in Reno, Nev. In March 2005, an inmate stole a gun and killed a Fulton County, Ga., superior court judge and court reporter.

"The most volatile court in the nation, where judges are killed on the bench, is family courts," Howell said. "When you're dealing with people's children, they get real upset. Family court is where it all happens, and judges get killed right on the bench. People whip out guns and start shooting them in front of the courtroom."

Tompkins said he doesn't want to harm the judge, but doesn't have a problem with the fliers if court officials believe he's a threat.

Two weeks ago, he said a sheriff's deputy detained him in family court and removed him. At the time, he said he didn't know he wasn't allowed in court.

Access to juvenile witnesses granted: The admission into evidence of portions of a defendant?s testimony at a dependency hearing concerning the victim was not error. The Court of Criminal Appeals reasoned that the confidentiality rules which govern juvenile proceedings and records are designed to protect the juveniles in juvenile proceedings, not the privacy of witnesses. See Bombailey v. State, 580 So. 2d 41 (Ala. Crim. App. 1990).

Access granted:A television station?s news report about a 15-year-old runaway whose puppy had been stolen and tortured did not constitute an invasion of privacy. The court found that the public had a legitimate interest in the story. J.C. and C.C. v. WALA-TV, Inc, 675 So. 2d 360 (Ala. 1996).

    Alabama state courtoverturned the conviction of two newscasters for violating a state law that prohibits disclosure of information in juvenile records. They had broadcast the name of a juvenile charged with murder. Although the newspaper had obtained the name from a confidential source, the judge reversed the lower court's ruling because the juvenile's name had been revealed before the broadcast in a bond hearing.

      The Alabama Supreme Court(1996) held that a television station's news report about a 15-year-old runaway whose puppy had been stolen and tortured did not constitute an invasion of privacy. The court found that the broadcast of the juvenile's identity and runaway status did not constitute an invasion of privacy because the public had a legitimate interest in the story. See State v. Ozbirn, cc-930148, Dist. Franklin City., Ala., dismissed, Feb. 3, 1994) and J.C. and C.C. v. WALA-TV, Inc., 675 So.2d 360 (Ala. 1996).

     JUVENILE RIGHTS UNDER FERPA ACT :

Personal Knowledge or Observation

FERPA does not prohibit a school official from disclosing information about a student if the information is obtained through the school official's personal knowledge or observation, and not from the student's education records. For example, if a teacher overhears a student making threatening remarks to other students, FERPA does not protect that information.

Under FERPA, investigative reports and other records created and maintained by these "law enforcement units" are not considered "education records" subject to FERPA. Accordingly, schools may disclose information from law enforcement unit records to anyone, including outside law enforcement authorities, without parental consent. See 34 CFR § 99.8.

FREE SPEECH AND WEBSITES :

SEE the following links as the law relates to alleged criminal defendants: