During the Emergency Town Hall meeting, Tribal Prosecutor Cody White made the following statement, “Speaking to the dismissals, I know that the One Feather, everyone sees the dismissals. That’s not the total view of what we do. I am not sure why the One Feather doesn’t publish the convictions as well. I don’t know.”
He made this judgment based on his interpretation of the number of people coming to him talking only about the dismissals. Based on his comments, it was clear that he had not read the report that we print, which is, with the exception of formatting, published in its entirety as we receive it from the Cherokee Court, which includes a summarized report of all actions taken on charges made against individuals. All information, including dismissals and convictions are published, as Cherokee One Feather Reporter Scott McKie B.P. announced at the meeting.
There are two things we take very seriously at the Cherokee One Feather – accuracy and transparency. We do not redact information from public documents unless there is a legal responsibility to do so or the information violates our Code of Ethics. We believe it is very important to verify information prior to releasing it to the public or announcing it in a public forum. Writing or speaking without verifying information diminishes the credibility of the writer or speaker. The community should demand accuracy and transparency, whether information disseminated is from the newspaper or from the prosecutor’s office.
– Cherokee One Feather Editorial Board
