News outlets say Marshall County school shooting judge's gag order was illegal

The judge in the Marshall County High School shooting case violated the U.S. Constitution with a gag order and the Court of Appeals should intervene, Western Kentucky news organizations say in a new court filing.

The organizations, which previously accused Marshall Circuit Judge Jamie Jameson of illegally closing the arraignment of alleged shooter Gabe Parker, say the judge also issued an unconstitutional gag order barring discussion of "any aspect of the case whatsoever" and improperly held a secret hearing to keep it confidential.

The petition was filed Thursday by The Paducah Sun, WPSD-TV and the Marshall County Tribune-Courier, which in a previous filing alleged that Jameson improperly intervened to help Parker and noted that he is an acquaintance of Parker's mother.

"Taken together," the petition says, the judge's actions "can only be seen as an attempt to conduct a high-profile murder case through a series of secret proceedings the public is not even permitted to know about, let alone observe before or after the fact. These actions constitute a clear violation of ... the public’s right to access proceedings in a criminal trial."

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The petition asks the Court of Appeals to to dissolve the gag order and immediately unseal all circuit courts records in the underlying case, other than medical or psychological reports that are confidential by law.

Jameson has not responded to messages left at his chamber.

He wrote in an order made public Wednesday that the prosecution and defense jointly agreed to keep confidential everything but Parker's indictment pending resolution of the defense counsel's claim that his client was improperly transferred for trial as an adult.

The petition, filed by attorneys Jon Fleischaker, Michael Abate and Casey Hinkle, said the agreement is irrelevant because the law does not allow the parties "to sign away the public’s right to access court records."

Parker, 15, was indicted on two counts of murder and 14 counts of assault for opening fire with a handgun on Jan. 13 at Marshall County High School. Two students, Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, both 15, were killed.

The petition says that before Parker was arraigned on Feb. 16, Jameson entered a secret, sealed gag order that prohibits any party from commenting outside of court on the facts of the case, potential defenses, evidence, the name of the defendant or any witnesses – or even say when hearings are scheduled.

The order allows only Kentucky State Police spokesman Jody Cash can say anything about the case, according to the petition.

The order was entered without a hearing or any showing that it was necessary, the petition claims.

The petition also says that Jameson improperly arraigned Parker behind closed doors, then held a secret telephone conference with the defendant's lawyer, public defender Tom Griffiths and prosecutor Jacob Ford.

The filing asks for immediately relief from the Court of Appeals, including a order releasing transcripts of closed hearings should have been conducted in public.

Andrew Wolfson: 502-582-7189; awolfson@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @adwolfson. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/andreww