COJ #158 - When Lawyers Face Zero Consequences And Journalists Fight For Our Right To Publish

Investigative journalists⁠ ⁠Mandy Matney⁠⁠ and⁠ ⁠Liz Farrell⁠⁠ talk with attorney⁠ Eric Bland about the coordinated harassment they're facing in the the Beach v. Parker litigation—and why it represents everything broken about South Carolina's legal accountability system. Briefly touching on former Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill pleading guilty without prison time, the conversation shifts to a more insidious problem: lawyers weaponizing their licenses to harass journalists who dare to cover public court filings. Mandy and Liz detail how their personal phone numbers and unverified text messages have been released, how they've been subjected to invasive depositions despite not being parties to the case, and how Greg Parker's legal team continues expanding discovery far beyond the actual pleadings. The trio explores how the phrase "officer of the court" has become meaningless when trust has eroded. With trial approaching in Beach v. Parker, Judge Kelly has an opportunity to draw c...