Jeff Campbell
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83rd Year of Editorial Freedom
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1 imagine that anyone who comes in
contact with our criminal justice system
and loses will experience a certain
amount of bitterness. I was arrested on
drug charges in 1972 and received a 7 to
10 year sentence. 1 was guilty of using
drugs and should pay the consequences
but somehow I expected the
administration of justice to follow
certain rules. If my experience was not
an exception then the system is sorely in
need of reform.
My arrest came on a hot and humid
summer night in July of 1972. 1 was
attending a party at a lake in rural
Scotland County when suddenly the
sheriffs department descended upon the
gathering. They had no search warrant
and were on private property. That did
not stop them, from searching
individuals and automobiles and
arresting five people on various drug
charges. The drugs that 1 was charged
with were found in my car. Ordinarily
you would expect the police to need a
search warrant or permission to search a
car that is parked on private property.
The police had neither but told the judge
and the jury the drugs were in plain
view. In fact, the marijuana was in a box
under the seat of the car and could not
be seen from outside or even inside the
car.
I decided to plead not guilty since 1
was not intending to sell drugs and the
warrant stated differently. 1 also pled
not guilty on advice of my attorney who
did not feel that the lack of a search
warrant would hold up in court. But
believe me, if the police want to make a
charge stick, they can make their stories
fall within the limits of the law. Try and
have most juries believe you or anyone
else if it is your word against that of a
deputy sheriff.
The jury selection is something else.
Supposedly, you are judged by a jury of
your peers. But that is not true. The
prosecuting attorney methodically
proceeded to assure that no one under
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Jeff Campbell
the age of thirty or anyone with a college
education sat on the jury. The average
age was 50 years or more and the
average education was around ninth
grade. Try to argue a technical legal case
to that group.
The old adage of being assumed
innocent until proven guilty does not
hold water. One lady, while being
cross-examined for jury duty in my case,
made the following statement when
asked if she could give me a fair trial: "If
the police arrested him, then he must be
guilty.'" Needless to say, she was not
seated, but her opinion was probably
shared by others.
Another surprising incident arose
after the jury returned the guilty verdict.
Two deputies took the witness stand on
the basis of heresay evidence gathered
from an unknown, confidential
informer, testified that I was "a big
pusher and sold drugs to students."
None of this was true but the judge
listened intently. With no way for me to
contradict faceless and nameless
accusers, it was very damaging
information.
I appealed my case to the N.C.
Supreme Court which refused to even
hear it. Appeals are not argued on
versions of who told the truth; they are
based on proving the judge made a
reversable error. Evidently, he did not.
Consequently based on the police
version of the arrest, there was no way
the judge or jury could have acted
differently. On the basis of the "facts" it
is something of a minor miracle I did not
receive an even longer sentence. A guilty
plea would have probably been the
safest alternative for me. It is most
obvious to me that those of us who plead,
not guilty and lose receive much harsher
sentences than those who plea-bargain
or plead guilty from the start. That may
save the state money but it does not say
much for equal treatment under the law.
Even though I was in fact guilty of
using drugs it was nothing like the court
records would show. I would pity an
individual who is, in fact, innocent
trying to prove his innocence in a trial
such as mine. If the system has the right
to punish individuals for violating its
laws, then it is especially important for
that system to obey the laws that are set
up to govern itself. H ow else does a legal
system have a right to call itself
legitimate?
I , still continue to believe that our
system of criminal is a fair one, but when
it is abused by those delegated to carry
out the implementation of that system's
laws, it can become a powerful force to
supress an individual. My experience
with our criminal justice system has left
me feeling very helpless, bitter and
beaten. The prison system has
continued to reinforce that feeling. 1 will
share my experiences at Central Prison
next time.
All unsigned editorials are the opinion of the editors. Letters and columns represent the opinions of
individuals.
Founded February 23, 1893
Tuesday, February 25, 1975
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Jeff Campbell is a 1968 UNC
graduate now imprisoned at Camp
Green in Charlotte.
H
Barbara Holtzman and Alan Bisbort
lections: unnatural acts
There is an old (and wise) Congolese
saying that goes,'' Wood may remain 10
vears in the water, but it will never
become a crocodile' There is also a line
from a David Bowie song which goes,
"Someone to fool us Someone like
you We want you Big Brother." And
finally, there are some campus political
slogans which go, "We want our office
to be open to all students," or
"Experience is the key" or "I have no
affiliation with any group which has
played on American Bandstand."
Pick any three of the above and
multiply them by three and that ought to
approximate just what student elections
are. They simply cannot be defined in
any way without resorting to cheap
cynicism, which is exactly what we are
eoine to do.
Will student elections remain the
wood which remains in the water of
democracy, without becoming the
crocodile of change?
i Voter Jean Greens, a student from
Provo, Utah, had this to say on the
delicate questions of student elections:
"1 want to vote because I like cheese.
And if we did not exercise our rights to
vote, then the electoral process would
end, at least as we know it here on this
campus. Which would also mean that
the access to Parmessan cheese in the
cafeterias would be usurped by an
unnamed monster, we'll call it Apathy."
We also contacted a medical expert.
The report is in. Student elections are
hazardous to one's health. Dr. Doktor
Decker, an ear specialist, is concerned
with what he feels is the permanent
damage to the ear done by campaign
promises. He said, "Candidates march
their words into the public arena with no
regard for the pain it does to the
listener's inner ear. This damage is more
insidious than the damage done if they
were to force some chopsticks in them.
It is a hidden damage. It is a quiet'
damage, an unnoticed creeping in of
deafness. The listener unconciously
phases the words out until he becomes
deaf to other things. The sound waves
enter the ear canal, vibrate the inner
earbones but stop there. They do not,
make it to the brain. And that is
unnatural. Therefore, ; I think that
student candidates are forcing the
listener into the performance of
unnatural acts. Call out the vice squad!"
The usual argument about these
elections is that they, like baseball's
opening day game, come once a year
and never seem to change. The same
words are mumbled, the campus is
surfeited with posters of business
administration majors who delineate
what they will do with our student fees
($5 goes to class trip to Thailand, $6
goes to service plants, $7 goes to movies,
$8 goes to land-lady, $9 goes to maids-a-milking,
$10 Golden Rings...), few
students go to the polls, editorials on
student apathy proliferate to an even
greater extent than the poster boards,
and, curses of curses, a runoff election
results, usually with the "joke"
candidate losing out because, at the last
moment, students have a change of
heart and decide that things have gone a
bit too far and that it's time to get
serious.
But that's the usual argument. Who
needs cheap cynicism when you can
have expensive scientific research?
Our argument," after years of
research, is that student elections are
immoral and are only another example
of the creeping decadence and
irreligiousness of Western civilization.
Candidates learn how to dig up bad
things about their opponents (in one
election, years ago, a candidate found
out that the other had cheated in biology
class and "had not dissected his frog, as
he had said he did"). The English
language (God's language) is abused by
campaign literature, the air is permeated
with the evil smell of immoral
doubletalk, and students are forced to
choose between people who are no
different which is also an unnatural act.
God will deal with this accordingly.
What happens to those elected? Why
do they continue the status quo? Why
are they continually the victims of the
same accusations?
Our evidence is not conclusive, but
thanks to a grant from Student
Government, we will be able to continue
our research in this area. It is not that
they cannot see the forest for the trees,
but rather they cannot see the trees for
the Bell Tower.
Barbara Holtzman is a senior
journalism major from Charlotte. Alan
Bisbort is a senior English major from
Atlanta.
Don 'Baer and Harriet Sugar are the strongest
candidates in tomorrow's election for the editorship of
the Daily Tar Heel. Their individual qualifications and
their decision to run as co-editors make "Sugar-Baer"
clearly superior. No other single candidate can match
their experience, their ability, or the time at their
disposal to improve the DTH.
Sugar-Baer's advantage is clear when you look at the
records of their opponents. The two weakest are Tom
Wright and Barnie Day. Wright is an angry young man
whose idea of DTH reform is to write editorials only
when he can't find someone else to do them for him. We,
however, feel strongly that a good editor should take a
firm stand on important issues. Day's talents are best
summed up by one of his own columns which he turned
into us last semester, a column which frankly was not fit
to be printed. Day is from in-state but he somehow
managed to misspell "North Carolinians" throughout
his copy. ... -
Elliott Warnock is a more serious candidate with
lengthy DTH sports staff experience. We are confident
of his technical ability to run the DTH especially since
he served as DTH summer editor this past year. It is
unfortunate, however, that many of Warnock's actions
last summer conflict with his recent platform pledges,
including his demand for less wire news on the front
page. Editorially, Warnock admitted after only two and
a half weeks in office last summer that he had already
run out of editorial topics, even though he only had to
think up two a week. Finally, Warnock has taken all the
credit for whatever improvement there was in the
summer DTH, which doesn't bode well for his future
staff relations.
Warnock has lived with sports, newspapers, and
Chapel Hill all his life and consequently he has a
parochial outlook on many matters. Athletics would
receive priority in next year's paper as shown by his
desire to devote the back page, what has traditionally
been the editorial page, to sports. We feel strongly that
social issues and student opinion should continue to be
emphasized in the DTH. It is doubtful that Warnock,
with his folksy but volatile temperament, can be an
effective opinion leader on serious issues. '
No one will dispute Cole Campbell's personal abilities
if only because he is, after all, a sharp-tongued debater.
As his main opponents last year, no one is more
respectful than we are. Campbell is still as good a writer
as ever, but he still has not remedied many of his
weaknesses since the last campaign. It is his own fault
that he continues to lack any daily newspaper experience
since virtually any position on this year's DTH was his
for the asking. We personally offered him the associate
editorship so that he could supervise the editorial page,
but he refused. Campbell could produce well-researched
editorials but Warnock, for example, would be a better
editor since he has had enough experience to manage the
entire paper. Not only is Campbell ignorant of many of
the working details of the DTH, his knowledge of other
campus organizations is also doubtful since, by his own
admission, he has only had time to debate.
In addition to these failings, we question the amount
of time he will have to spend on the DTH since he is
married, has a daughter to take care of, and will be a
graduate student as well. Besides, undergraduates are
the main audience of the DTH, the editor should also be
one. Campbell's campaign is thankfully more subdued
this year than last, but he still has many flaws.
Don Baer and Harriet Sugar, on the other hand, have
the benefit of both long staff experience and an outside
perspective, since Baer has only been a reporter for a few
months. The main doubt concerning their candidacy
seems to be their co-editorship, but they have known
each other and have worked together practically all their
lives. What greater indication of compatibility and
teamwork effectiveness can the voters want?
Baer's intimate knowledge of other campus
organizations and important administrators is an
effective complement to Sugar's proven writing ability
and staff experience. Editorially they will be able to take
definitive stances and then follow up their ideas by
pushing their reforms with local leaders, most of whom
they already know. Together they combine Campbell's
talent and Warnock's experience. Sugar-Baer is the only
balanced candidacy in the race.
Most important of all, however, they will have
literally twice as much time to spend running the paper
next year as any of their opponents. The editorship is
one of the most demanding jobs on this campus with its
long and irregular hours. The DTH heeds to be
improved but it will take a flexible, dedicated, and
experienced team to be able to do the job. Sugar-Baer
have a very solid platform, the right set of priorities, and
proven ability and interest both in the D TH and campus
affairs. They are definitely the best candidates for the
office.
Letters to the editors
Readers
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The
Daily
Tar Heel
Jim Cooper, Greg Turosak
Editors
David Ennis, Associate Editor
Lu Ann Jones, Associate Editor
David Klinger, News Editor
Alan Murray, Features Editor
Susan Shackelford, Sports Editor
Gene Johnson, Wire Editor
Martha Stevens, Head Photographer
Jim Grimsley, Night Editor '
To the editors:
In your editorial of Feb. 24, you outline
Jamie Ellis' qualifications for SB President.
You then add: "Her attractive appearance
can often be deceiving. Ellis thinks well on
her feet and she has an excellent set of
priorities..."
Thank you for opening my eyes. I was
certain an attractive woman could think well
only on her back. 1 am surprised, however,
that you do not emphasize more strongly the
importance of "an excellent set" to the
president of a Student Body.
In short, I find your comments offensive
and sexist.
Chuck Babington
205 Manly
Editor's note: Perhaps our snideness was too
obscure. The sentence "Her attractive
appearance can often be deceiving" was
specifically directed toward the more
chauvinistic elements on Campus, not a
supposed revelation of our own inner
surprise.
Ellis 'perfect'?
To the editors:
A few short weeks ago 1 remember an
article in the DTH calling for student
leaders, i but it seems that now the same
people are calling the candidates clowns,
jokes, encores, or all of the above. The
editorial appearing in Monday's DTH
points up the shortcomings of every
candidate for Student Body president,
except Ms. Perfect, Jamie Ellis. Strange as it
may seem, Ms. Ellis is somehow above fault
and failure and carries with her a plan
completely within reason, well thought out
and very achievable. She is both attractive
and intelligent. 1 believe this obviously
biased and ridiculous editorial is, at the
most, worthless to the concerned student.
Carolina has in its midst a wealth of
attractive and intelligent women capable of
assuming the office of Student Body
president, unfortunately none of them chose
to run. Since the editors of our student
newspaper chose to point out the flaws in
every other candidate's campaign, why did
not they point out hers? Of course, it might
weaken the effect of their endorsement. 1
know of not one major accomplishment
AWS has made under Ms. Ellis' direction;
correct me if I am wrong. As far as the
realism of her platform, some of her ideas
are legitimate, but a lot of them were
scavenged from campaigns of the past and
are highly unlikely to occur. Sure this is
idealism, but how realistic are most of hef
ideas? And if she handles the Administration
as well as she thinks on her feet, students will
be lucky to have one day of drop-add.
There is another thing about this
particular endorsement that bothers me and
that is the idea that Marcus Williams' year
has had failures. I think that Williams has
accomplished a great deal this year, despite
what the editors of this paper think. The
main problem has been too much criticism
from this paper and not enough cooperation.
The editors are quick to point up the failures
and completely unconcerned with the
successes. In my opinion, this year has been a
failure for the DTH as far as the editorial
part is concerned! Until Student
Government begins to get more cooperation
from this paper, both the Student Body and
Student Government will continue to suffer.
1 feel that Tim Dugan is the ablest
candidate for the office of Student Body
president, though he may not be quite as
attractive to the editors. And I believe that
most of the candidates for editor can do a
better job than is currently being done, but of
these 1 feel that Elliot Warnock has the
necessary skills and experience to make this
paper a better student newspaper. I strongly
urge all students to vote in the upcoming
'elections and, if you feel as I do, to give these
candidates your support.
. . Carl R. Fox
Chairman, CGC Finance Committee
Dugan preferred
To the editors:
Present and future Carrboro residents
should concern themselves with the Student
Body presidential election on Wednesday.
Representing some 40 per cent of the eligible
voting population of Carrboro, students
have often been ignored, despised and
denied in Carrboro town decision-making. It
is inconceivable that most candidates would
fail to address this issue that effects over
3,500 students directly. This is the case.
though, as only one candidate, Tim Dugan,
has committed himself publicly in working
for the Carrboro Students to improve
conditions.
That Carrboro will have a bus system will
not become a reality until the referendum is
finally held with students participating.
The specifics the other candidates to date
have promised to work for are trite in
comparison to a tangible bus system for
Carrboro. There is a lack of concern for both
Chapel Hill and Carrboro as indicated by
platforms totally composed of campus
oriented programs. Can we continue to live
in our dream world that the University is
separated from both towns? Tangible results
both on and off campus are possible with
able leadership that works with the towns.
This lack of concern must be aired. Only
Tim Dugan has proved to me a concern and
ability to work for students in Carrboro and
Chapel Hill.
Lew Warren
Presidential Assistant on Carrboro Affairs
and Transportation
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