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Editorial: Judge made correct ruling
The residents of Loudoun County are lucky to have Judge Thomas D. Horne on the bench of the Circuit Court.
Horne ruled in the best interest of the public Aug. 5 when he decided that if Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney James Plowman is to be deposed in the case Commonwealth of Virginia v. Mark David Tate, it will happen in open court.
This means that anyone and everyone who wants to hear what Plowman has to say under oath will be able to do so.
This seems only right since Plowman is a public servant voted into office by the residents of this county. Loudouners have a right to hear their elected leaders should they be called to testify under oath.
Tate is facing nine counts of election fraud, serious charges that some feel Plowman began investigating to hurt Tate's chances of becoming the Republican nominee for the 27th District seat of the Virginia State Senate.
Plowman was a supporter of Tate's opponent, Jill Holtzman Vogel, who ended up winning the seat.
But the controversy over Tate's indictment just before the primary election isn't the main reason why Plowman should be deposed in public instead of private.
We live in the United States of America. One of the hallmarks of our liberty is our open court system.
There is a long-standing tradition of keeping all court proceedings open, with the understandable exception of when victims -- especially minors – are testifying in rape cases. This is not one of those instances.
Parts of court proceedings also are closed now and then to ensure that press coverage will not jeopardize a defendant's ability to obtain a fair trial.
This is not the case here because Plowman is not on trial, and his testimony could only help Tate by leading to some charges being dropped.
Thank goodness Horne has the understanding of our Constitution and the respect for our country to uphold the high standard of open courtrooms and the accountability of public officials to those who elect them.
Judge Horne was correct. Now the question will be "will Plowman being telling the truth?". Hard to say, but I think this County has bigger criminals to try than someone making an error on an election form.
Posted by BTO
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