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Podunk prosecutors seek gag order against eighth-grader arrested over NRA shirt
dailymail.co.uk ^ | 6-26-2013 | Eric Owens

Posted on 06/26/2013 9:27:11 AM PDT by servo1969

The case of the rural West Virginia eighth-grader who was suspended and arrested in late April after he refused to remove a t-shirt supporting the National Rifle Association just keeps getting weirder.

According to local CBS affiliate WOWK-TV, the student, 14-year-old Jared Marcum, was back at the Logan County Courthouse on Monday for a hearing because prosecutors Christopher White and Sabrina Deskins were seeking an emergency gag order.

Earlier this month, Marcum had been formally charged with obstructing an officer. He was also suspended from school for one day. His crime was refusing a teacher’s request to take off the shirt, which was emblazoned with a hunting rifle and the statement “protect your right.”

“She said, ‘Are you supposed to wear that in school?’” Marcum had previously explained in an interview with WOWK. “I said, ‘I don’t see why I shouldn’t.’”

In court papers, the arresting officer, James Adkins, reportedly asserts that the criminal obstruction occurred because he couldn’t get Marcum to stop talking.

The school district’s policy doesn’t prohibit shirts promoting Second Amendment rights. Audaciously, Marcum returned to school after his suspension wearing exactly the same shirt.

The 14-year-old now faces a $500 fine and a maximum of one year in prison or juvenile confinement.

In seeking the emergency gag order, the podunk prosecutors argued that Marcum’s interest would best be served if he, his attorney and his father are prevented from speaking about the case in the press.

Marcum’s attorney, Ben White, and his father, Allen Lardieri, both say they find the argument strange.

“We were here because the prosecution filed a motion for a gag order,” Marcum’s attorney Ben White told WOWK. “My opinion is because, seemingly, they want to take it out of the court of public opinion.”

“It was for Jared’s better interest is what I was told, which seems to be a bit odd to me,” Lardieri told the station. “These are the same individuals that are trying to prosecute him, so as far as them knowing what is in his better interest, I have a lot of questions about that.”

At the end of the day, the motion for the gag order was likely a strategic maneuver by the state’s lawyers against the newly-minted middle-school graduate. They withdrew their petition provided that Marcum’s father agreed to waive the confidentiality that prevents the prosecutors from also speaking about the criminal case.

Prosecutors could not speak about the case without first cutting a deal because Marcum is a minor.

Both prosecutors as well as police declined to answer questions.

WOWK reporter Charlo Greene attempted to oppose the gag order on behalf of her employer. However, she was unable to deliver her petition, a Logan County Courthouse bailiff threw her out — twice. Greene was also threatened with arrest for obstructing an officer, the same charge Marcum currently faces.

The bailiff said the presiding judge, Eric O’Briant, requested Greene’s removal.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: West Virginia
KEYWORDS: banglist; guncontrol; logan; marcum; nra; secondamendment; shirt; student
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1 posted on 06/26/2013 9:27:11 AM PDT by servo1969
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To: servo1969

That source should have been DailyCaller.com
I messed it up.


2 posted on 06/26/2013 9:31:20 AM PDT by servo1969
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To: servo1969

Very interesting... I see some major pushback coming down the pike.


3 posted on 06/26/2013 9:31:58 AM PDT by The Working Man
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To: servo1969

Land of the Fee, home of the Knave.

Hey, its a change.


4 posted on 06/26/2013 9:35:32 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: servo1969
A strange case indeed. Logan County WV would ordinarily be considered an area dominated by the bitter clingers.

Do any WV FReepers know if there is more to this story than meets the eye?

5 posted on 06/26/2013 9:36:12 AM PDT by buckalfa (Tilting at Windmills)
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To: servo1969

Some cases really make law enforcement look stupid and this is one of them.


6 posted on 06/26/2013 9:36:47 AM PDT by DonaldC (A nation cannot stand in the absence of religious principle.)
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To: servo1969

Is this in the U.S.?


7 posted on 06/26/2013 9:37:45 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: servo1969

Gag the podunk prosecutors with a rope, permanently.


8 posted on 06/26/2013 9:38:17 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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To: servo1969

You gonna stand for something, stand for something noble and big.

The kid should start a blog.


9 posted on 06/26/2013 9:40:13 AM PDT by Noamie
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To: buckalfa

Yeah, like what does the NSA have on this judge?


10 posted on 06/26/2013 9:44:52 AM PDT by butterdezillion (,)
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To: servo1969
An observation:

These prosecutors who are trying to imprison a 14 year old for having an opinion are not feds working on behalf the FBI, NSA, DOJ, ATF etc.

This is happening in a rural county in West Virginia (the capital of Logan County - Logan - has a population of less than 2,000) which is peopled by Americans whom the residents of DC or SF would likely consider "bitter clingers."

These are lawyers working for the elected county attorney to jail a kid on charges levied by a local policeman after a groundless and stupid complaint by a local teacher.

11 posted on 06/26/2013 9:47:51 AM PDT by wideawake
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To: Telepathic Intruder
Is this in the U.S.?

No. West Virginia.

12 posted on 06/26/2013 9:51:07 AM PDT by 03A3 (The reset is gonna be epic.)
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To: servo1969

Why did we ever bother resisting the old Soviet Union? This country is changing into the New Soviet Union. All hail godless communism, comrades!


13 posted on 06/26/2013 9:51:45 AM PDT by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
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To: butterdezillion
Here are two competing theories:

Marcum was considered such a threat by the NSA that it collected information on his teacher, his local police, the local prosecutors and a local judge and insisted that these five individuals work in concert to railroad this kid or else their secrets would be revealed.

Or

In a small, rural community in which everyone likely knows everyone else's business, Marcum or his family have rubbed the wrong neighbors the wrong way.

14 posted on 06/26/2013 9:52:03 AM PDT by wideawake
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To: servo1969

Off Topic: I was at the PO yesterday to purchase stamps. I saw the WV stamp for the first time and wondered how this could be? WV (in my experience) is a beautiful, green state. Who came up with the idea to portray it as brown, dusty, and polluted?

If I were a West Virginian, I'd sue.

15 posted on 06/26/2013 9:52:22 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: DonaldC

Not just the police, but the prosecutor/district attorney.

They must be stuck on stupid, not to drop this case like the hot potato it is.


16 posted on 06/26/2013 9:55:12 AM PDT by Valpal1 (If the police can t solve a problem with brute force, they ll find a way to fix it with brute force)
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To: buckalfa
A strange case indeed. Logan County WV would ordinarily be considered an area dominated by the bitter clingers.

Do any WV FReepers know if there is more to this story than meets the eye?

It is very pro-gun, however it is also one of the most politically corrupt counties in the state and probably the nation. (Think "Duke's of Hazard" Roscoe/Boss Hogg corruption). My guess is that this kid or his father manged to piss off one of the local bigwigs, who sent down the word to the principle, police and DA to put the screws to him. That's just how things work in that area...

17 posted on 06/26/2013 9:58:50 AM PDT by apillar
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To: servo1969
the little tin gods appear to have realized they screwed up by arresting this young American patriot and are now willing to do anything to try to save their own asses. RECALL the DA!
18 posted on 06/26/2013 9:59:59 AM PDT by drypowder
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To: 03A3
Is this in the U.S.?
No. West Virginia.

Reminds me of an old joke:

How do we know that the toothbrush was invented in WV?

If it were invented anywhere else, it would have been called the teethbrush.

With apologies to all WV Freepers with all their teeth - couldn't resist.

19 posted on 06/26/2013 10:05:43 AM PDT by NY.SS-Bar9 (Those that vote for a living outnumber those that work for one.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

That is the morning fog arising in order to display the beauty of West Virginia.


20 posted on 06/26/2013 10:07:04 AM PDT by Rannug ("God has given it to me, let him who touches it beware.")
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