Kenneth Copeland has been Newton County Sheriff less than three months, but he has already has had his first lawsuit filed against him.
Regular readers of The Turner Report are already familiar with that lawsuit. It was brought by former prisoner Oscar Alvarez against the Newton County Sheriff's Department and former Sheriff Ron Doerge. U. S. District Court Judge Richard E. Dorr ruled today that Doerge is no longer being sued and that Sheriff Copeland's name will be substituted as the defendant.
"(Alvarez) does not state whether Doerge is being sued in his official or personal capacities. Because (he) did not allege that Defendant Doerge himself took part in the alleged actions, it appears from the pleading that (Alvarez) brought suit against Defendant Doerge in his official capacity."
That means the lawsuit automatically becomes Sheriff Copeland's, the judge ruled.
In his lawsuit, Alvarez alleges that two jailers, Adam Brandon Babbitt and Shane Steven Smith unlocked Alvarez' jail door, turned off video surveillance cameras, unlocked the cell doors of two prisoners and then allowed them to go into Alvarez' cell and attack him.
As has been noted in The Turner Report, former Sheriff Doerge may have ignored evidence that his jailers had nothing whatsoever to do with the attack.
***
Lonnie Trotter's death was featured in the obituary section of today's Lamar Democrat. I would hope that a more complete story will be written in the Democrat in the near future.
Lonnie was cut down at age 49 by ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). He made a lasting impact on Lamar and the Barton County community with his work with scouting and with his work for the ambulance service.
My prayers are with Nancy and Josh and their family. Lonnie will be missed.
***
The New York Times discovered long ago that people definitely have an interest in reading the life stories of those who have made an impact on the community. Of course, the Times is limited on who it can do a full-length story on simply because of the scope of its coverage, but a small-town newspaper such as the Democrat, the Neosho Daily, the Carthage Press, the Webb City Sentinel, or any of the others in this area can do no greater service to a community than to celebrate the lives of those who truly made a difference during their years on this earth.
Ron Graber and The Carthage Press do a superb job on that front, better than anyone in this area.
You don't have to have run a business or held an elected office to be worthy of a page one story in a small town. People in all walks of life make important contributions.