One Superior Court judge out of North Carolina Sent one prospective juror out to spend a full day in jail after he refused to don a mask while sitting in the courtroom.
The judge in question, one Judge Charles Gilchrist, is now the only judge in the entire courthouse who aggressively enforces a masking mandate in the wake of North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper officially lifting his statewide masking mandate for all indoor settings just over a year ago. Gilchrist labeled the 47-year-old Gregory Hahn of Harnett County as in contempt of court for his outright refusal to follow the order from the judge regarding his masking mandate, read a report from WRAL News.
“The irony of all this is the judge was talking to me without a mask,” expressed Hahn, a veteran of the Navy who reportedly served as a member of the President’s Honor Guard for Arlington National Cemetary. “If safety was such a concern, I go to jail [with] no mask requirements with inmates.”
Renee Whittenton, the Clerk of Superior Court, claimed via a statement that each of the possible jurors was informed of the masking rule for Gilchrist when they officially checked in, and the court offered to provide masks for them all if they did not have one on them at the time, but Hahn expressed that he was not made aware of the heavily enforced mandate, and such a rule was entirely absent from the court summons sent out to Hahn. The courthouse itself sports absolutely no signs regarding any enforced masking mandates.
“You can go in any district courtroom without a mask, you can come into superior clerk court without a mask and the [district attorney’s] office without a mask, but with Judge Gilchrist he has a mandate that you must wear a mask,” she stated.
A joint order coming from both Lee and Harnett counties this past March stated that masks are entirely optional in foyers, restrooms, hallways, meeting rooms, and similar areas, but the order also allowed any judge presiding to make the choice about whether or not they wanted to enforce masking in their courtrooms.
The Navy vet, who also happens to be a single father, claimed that Gilchrest asked him a total of two times if he was refusing to wear a mask, and Hahn claimed that he was. The judge then mandates that Hahn spend the next 24 hours in jail, and he was quickly put in handcuffs and taken away shortly after. Hahn claimed that he asked Gilchrist if he could make a phone call to his child that was at home, but the judge outright refused to acknowledge his request.
“I never thought this could happen in this country,” exclaimed Hahn.
“I’m jailed for doing my civic duty and not doing anything,” he concluded. “It’s mind-boggling.”