Meanwhile... back at the Hall of Justice

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column

OPINION – After the Civil War (a name that incorrectly identifies this pivotal historical event), many of the former Confederate Generals waged a war of ink and paper against each other, many in Northern newspapers, accusing one another of treason (of all things), incompetence, and several other personal traits that go beyond the full measure of battlefield decisions.

If only these 19th Century Southern celebrities, who held the populace’s attention thanks to their ever-public feudal drama, kept their criticism to their duly-appointed commissioned positions instead of making them personal, maybe they could have worked out some resolve and settled the matter; but instead, many took their feud all the way to their deathbeds. These Southern gentlemen could have probably sued the pants off of each other, had they not all been public figures. Many of them never did reach a reconciliation moment, having once battled the Yankees with the sword and later one another with the pen.

However, they never blamed the public for asking questions or wanting to know more, even though these former generals had no responsibility to do as such; they explained their own sides of their perspective to the best of their ability in one article and column after another. It was the probably the greatest “he said she said he said” drama printed in newspapers to this day; a conglomerate of misunderstandings, blame-game feuding in American history – up until maybe the Rosie O’Donnell – Donald Trump feud of the mid-00’s.

Nobody went to jail over these feuds. Nobody was barred or blacklisted from commenting or communicating but, also, no government bodies at the time were involved. Just plenty of egos, angry attitudes and misunderstandings that might have been solved had they just talked it out. Who knows if they would have talked it out, that’s probably not true, but I’m an optimist and it’s crucial to my point so just play along with me.

When it comes to feuds between the people and government, it can get a little more tricky.

“Feud” might seem like a strong word, but keep in mind that we live in The United states of America, where we can openly criticize any of our forms of government and should not be harassed, detained, arrested or punished in other ways for it, as long as it’s civil and strictly criticism of the governing body or certain position and does not personally attack one’s own character or said to incite riot or harm. You can’t threaten to hurt someone and also if you make it personal and insult someone’s own appearance it’s past governmental criticisms and is just personal. Hopefully that doesn’t happen, but unfortunately it does.

But for what is legal here in the USA, isn’t legal in any other country on earth. Sure, some countries have a similar documents guaranteeing certain things but you can still be arrested or have your bank account frozen if you say something the governments of other countries don’t like.

It’s not the same.

That’s the reason we’re so spicy and combative because we have that right and exercise it constantly.

But every now and then, someone in government takes it personal when a citizen criticizes government or questions a decision, and that’s where things fall apart – for the person(s) in power.

On June 20, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that Americans’ First Amendment rights are violated when they are arrested in retaliation for their speech. The decision opened the courthouse doors for any American citizen who has been arrested for criticizing the government.

Sylvia Gonzalez was the reason for this ruling by the Supreme Court. Gonzalez fought against retaliatory actions by government officials. This ruling allows Americans to sue and / or file charges when they have evidence of a retaliatory arrest brought on by free speech.

The problem started when Gonzalez led a citizens’ petition to remove the city manager for mistreating employees and neglecting some city services.

I don’t know the full story, she could have been a problem in town for a long time for all I know. But that’s not the point here.

A few months later, city officials, including the mayor and police chief, etc., falsely accused Gonzalez of tampering with a government record, leading to her arrest. After a humiliating day in jail and her mugshot was shown across local media and posted on social media, the district attorney dropped the charges.

Surprisingly, violations of First Amendment rights are very common. Most often they involve retaliation by government officials against citizens engaging in protected speech or activity.

Jennifer Combs of Trinidad, Texas was arrested on May 8, 2026, and charged with "false alarm or report" after writing on Facebook about discolored water and unconfirmed hospitalizations. Ultimately, a Henderson County grand jury declined to indict her, and the charges were dropped. A judge noted police withheld context during the warrant application, and Combs filed a federal civil rights lawsuit for political retaliation, leading to widespread resignations of city hall staff.

This might make some Kings Mountain residents raise an eyebrow. I’m sure it didn’t help when KM city council briefly discussed having the SBI investigate criticism by KM residents on social media a few months ago. I’m sure it was intended to mean harmful comments, but that’s not what was said. That’s why it’s best to remember that to criticize government is your right, but be civilized about it. Don’t treat it like someone you’re about to fight at a ballgame after too many beers.

Just keep it professional and business related, not personal attacks at all, those are uncouth and uncalled for. But criticism of the job performance isn’t personal. At least, it shouldn’t be taken that way.

In New Hampshire, police arrested a man for being mean to them on the internet.

Robert Frese, a resident of Exeter, New Hampshire, was arrested and charged with criminal defamation, most recently for criticizing his town’s police chief. Frese was arrested for this twice. He was charged with violating New Hampshire’s criminal defamation law, which makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally and falsely disparage another person. New Hampshire’s law makes it a crime to say mean things about people. Something that is much harder to prove when it involves a public figure in North Carolina.

However, let’s keep it professional. Insult the government, but leave the personal attacks out of it, if you’re a professional. You may not be arrested but you could face accusations of malicious intent and get sued if you intend to cause harm to another’s reputation, mental state, health or finances by knowingly smearing another person, especially a private citizen.

There’s a long history of government employees and elected officials using defamation laws to silence their critics. Under English common law, the crime of “seditious libel” prohibited criticism of the government because it could lead to insurrection. And in the Sedition Act of 1798, Congress criminalized false statements criticizing the federal government.

But, as the Supreme Court ruled in a landmark 1964 decision, New York Times Company v. Sullivan, the First Amendment was meant to repudiate the whole notion of seditious libel. In that case, an Alabama police commissioner sued The New York Times for defamation after it published an advertisement describing police department actions against civil rights protesters.

In its decision upholding the newspaper’s First Amendment rights, the Supreme Court recognized the “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”

There's two sides to every story and then there’s the screenshots – or the truth – however you wish to say it.

To critique government is acceptable, but to attack a person personally takes on a different level.

During my research into the Justice Center, I wasn’t aiming for any particular person, but only reporting what local government had / is doing with the information I obtained through a public records request, regarding a letter approved by the top of the pyramid and just informed the public of the information contained in the document.

This was not personal, yet everyone working in Cleveland County administration has been instructed to not respond to my communications, except for public records requests. So obviously somebody took it personally; I’m sorry they feel that way.

One of my mentors in journalism said to me, “There’s two fields you should never get into if your thinned-skinned: Politics and journalism. They’ll insult each other and be constantly insulted by the public. If you can’t handle that then it’s best if you find another career.”

And while my emails with journalism questions, while I’m also a resident and voter of Cleveland County, are being ignored as instructed by whoever, I did receive the other half of my public records request, albeit timed perfectly by the county (which to me says I don’t fully trust their new-found enlightenment to be more transparent… but then again, they never said they’d be nice, just more open about what’s going on with the Justice Center; it didn’t mention other projects).

Yes, the county finally sent me the final part of my public records request that I made on July 14, on Friday, July 24, 2026 at exactly 5 p.m. … why? It was evident that if I had replied or asked a question they wouldn’t have to deal with it until Monday and any other requests made wouldn’t be officially received until Monday, postponing (potentially any needed information for another investigative news story about the Justice Center), and then, almost three hours later, they published the press release promising to be more open and forthcoming / transparent about the justice center… but ignoring my emailed questions for an interview with the county manager via phone, in person or at least answer the questions I included in the email, and the ones for the commissioners, too. But nothing for me - just silence after promising more communication and transparency; you can’t make this up. I have the emails that have gone ignored.

Only one county commissioner was willing to talk with me, thank you to Tony Berry for his courage and dedication to give the Shelby Independent a quote. I’d also like to thank Wayne King for giving The Shelby Independent a comment. Neither of them had to, but they did. They seem dedicated to transparency and accountability. I respect that.

If you’re a county commissioner and you didn’t receive an email from me forwarded by the county manager, or whoever handles those communications, then I’d ask about that email. If you do know about it then I guess you decided to ignore it. Either way, thanks Tony Berry and Wayne King - you both have my vote.

But I’ll give the county government credit for this: At least in Cleveland County they know that people have a right to criticize the government, paid for and elected by - and of - the people, and not harass them or threaten to arrest them for cordial criticism.

But one local TV show wasn’t happy that people had concerns and questions about the Justice Center. This is a show that I have praised, promoted and respect the people on it.

In the most recent episode, the panel seemed to come across as more like something akin to North Korean propaganda. They were annoyed / flabbergasted at the people who commented about the Justice Center news story which was posted on The Shelby Independent’s Facebook account. They seemingly laughed and insulted the readers asking questions and being concerned as “keyboard warriors” and as another said he could think of a few other names, and they proceeded to lecture the public as if everyone who commented on The Shelby Independent’s news story had the luxury of time to be better informed on the matter.

“How dare the public be concerned, have their own opinions and not be better informed,” seemed to be the attitude of the show (that isn’t a quote but seemed to be the theme). It was quite a shocking display of elitism from people I respect. Four people from two parties, who rarely all four of them agree (if they did that would defeat the purpose). This show is usually sometimes funny, always informative, entertaining and sensible, but they seemed to forget that not everyone lives on the metaphorical country club golf course. This episode seemed very highhanded and one-sided for having two different parties on the panel.  

There’s nothing wrong with supporting the construction project, regardless of the shock of the cost and that the county even admitted they have no idea how much this is going to cost in the end - something they all seemed to want to distract from the fact that the county admitted this in writing.

If you want to watch the episode, you can find it yourself, but I won’t share the link because I’m not promoting what I watched the other day. It was very disappointing (in my opinion) as they talked down to the readers of The Shelby Independent. And while it probably wasn’t meant to come across the way it did - it definitely seemed like an insult (in my opinion) to the readers of The Shelby Independent and the residents of Cleveland County who work, spend money, pay taxes and die in Cleveland County; many who do not have the luxury to take the time to attend meetings because they work two jobs or different shifts and go to bed tired. Not everyone has the luxury to attend meetings or watch an hour long meeting on YouTube with kids at home when you’re dead tired, or work more hours than others.

There’s nothing wrong with asking questions and/or being confused about a topic when you don’t have the time to “get involved.” Some people struggle to make ends meet. However, it’s sometimes hard to remember that many people in Cleveland County only survive working two jobs or overtime while also juggling kids and their activities and don’t have the luxury of time to “be better informed.” Things like that can be easy to forget when you’re busy swinging a 9 iron or a 3 wood in the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday.

You and I are allowed to have our own individual opinions, too, just like respected tv show hosts. Don’t ever forget it.

I just don’t understand the defensive arrogance about this Justice Center… just talk to us like normal people – not like “the little unimportant people” of Cleveland County you have to tolerate.

Treat us with dignity or at least pretend to.

Even in Cleveland County’s press release Friday evening, it seemed to be a little aggravated as it took an oath to the public to do better at communicating about the Justice Center’s progress. It almost seemed to say, “We’re going to do a better job communicating with you but you’re just not paying attention, and that’s your fault.”

Sorry, but documents buried in a sea of county website tabs and public records buried under a universe of paperwork does not count as being transparent and upfront about things.

While I appreciate the county government’s effort to make a change in such things, what has already happened has happened, but I will be fair and give them credit for this willingness to be more direct and I’ll be more forgiving in my voting in the future.

However, it shouldn’t have taken such actions to get to this point.

I even forgive those that said they wished I had died of a heart attack because if so, this wouldn’t be an issue right now... and whether that was actually said, or not – it really can’t be proven and the exact wording doesn’t matter, I don’t know if it did and from this point on, I don’t care; this was never personal for me.

The Shelby Independent’s investigative news piece may have been personal to some in government or to those attached to this project, one way or another, but to hold government accountable to the people is how it should be - always - whether it is you, or I, or your grandmother’s mailman’s cousin’s sister-in-law’s husband that holds elected office, we are all accountable to the people in such a position and it is nothing personal.

Blacklisting a news outlet, ignoring all emails and refusing to communicate because you took something personal is a “you problem” not a “me problem.”

I can still write about county public meetings, whether employees or elected officials talk to The Shelby Independent or not.

I’m sorry that county government took the Justice Center news story article personally…That was never the intention. I’m just doing my job: informing the public about local news.

As for the promise of better communication, I would like to thank the county commissioners for taking this step forward – or maybe it was the county manager - I have no clue. I’m in the dark on this one… because somebody somewhere took it personal and now no one at county government will answer my questions.  

Although, when the blacklisting ends, they’ll earn my trust and respect (as a resident) again.

We all have to live here and should support our government when they deserve it, and support our home of Cleveland County all of the time.

The Justice Center is needed.

The Justice Center will help with governance in Cleveland County all the way to the end of the 21^st century. It is something that is needed and had to be done, whether we voted for or agreed to, or not… it just had to happen.

But to keep the hard-working taxpaying residents in the dark and looking down on their questions and concerns – they might as well lock us all up in the new detention center, because either way, when we feel ruled instead of governed by the people, for the people, of the people, local government loses all trust and support – and that’s a price none of us can afford to pay.

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