North Carolina
Lawsuit alleges glitches in court filing system caused wrongful detainments
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in North Carolina alleges an electronic state court records system rolled out this year in four counties has caused some people to be arrested multiple times on the same warrant and has delayed the release of others from custody.
Two North Carolina residents who were arrested earlier this year are suing their county sheriffs and the Texas-based technology company responsible for designing the electronic filing system, which they say led to their unlawful detainment.
In their complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Timia Chaplin of Wake County and Paulino Castellanos of Lee County are asking a federal judge to bar their local sheriffs from continuing to use the system. They argue that it subjects the public to “unconstitutional deprivations of liberty.”
The lawsuit — a proposed class action — suggests there are likely hundreds more affected residents around the state.
“This class action seeks to remedy past harms and — as eCourts is soon expected to be implemented in North Carolina’s remaining counties — prevent future violations,” Chaplin and Castellanos said in the complaint.
After years of discussions about how to modernize the state judiciary’s archaic filing system, the state Administrative Office of the Courts awarded Tyler Technologies a $100 million contract in 2019 for a package of software applications known as eCourts.
The program launched Feb. 13 in four pilot counties — Wake, Lee, Johnston and Harnett — and is supposed to be expanded to all 100 counties by 2025. But several attorneys and lawmakers have criticized its rocky rollout, pointing to numerous glitches, system lags and expansion delays.
Chaplin, who said she was arrested twice on the same warrant for failing to appear in court, claims those system malfunctions violated her constitutional right to be free from unlawful search, seizure and detention.
Although a judge dismissed her case when she appeared in March for a rescheduled court hearing, Chaplin said her arrest warrant remained outstanding for nearly a month because its “resolved” status had not been communicated across eCourts applications.
Castellanos alleges his release from jail was delayed about 14 days due to issues in digitizing his case file.
Their lawsuit names Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe and Lee County Sheriff Brian Estes. They could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
Graham Wilson, spokesperson for the North Carolina Judicial Branch, said the administrative office has encouraged residents, attorneys and court officials to report any issues like those alleged in the complaint since it first launched the new system.
“We have investigated each report we have received and have not substantiated that any allegation of wrongful arrest or incarceration was caused by” the eCourts system, Wilson said Tuesday.
Tyler Technologies declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Washington
Biden judicial nominee Wamble withdraws from consideration
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor tapped by President Joe Biden to become a U.S. district judge in Kansas has withdrawn from consideration, citing the nearly two-year wait for action on his nomination.
Jabari Wamble is Biden’s second judicial nominee to withdraw this month. Attorney Michael Delaney backed out of consideration for the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week in a rare judicial defeat for the Democratic president. Delaney did not have enough support in the Senate Judiciary Committee to send his candidacy on to the full Senate for confirmation.
Wamble wrote to Biden that he had been “humbled and honored by the faith you placed in me with this nomination” but said he was withdrawing from consideration for appointment to the U.S. District Court for Kansas.
“My path to this nomination began more than 18 months ago and after careful thought and consideration I feel that it is best for me to continue my work at the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Kansas,” he wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.
The White House on Wednesday did not offer an explanation for Wamble’s withdrawal. But one official familiar with Wamble’s confirmation process said he was expected to receive a “not qualified” designation from the American Bar Association, which rates candidates for federal judgeships.
The ABA has not issued a formal rating for Wamble. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a process that is not public.
Biden is proud to have nominated Wamble, said White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, who called him “a deeply qualified attorney who has served with distinction as a prosecutor at the state and federal level in Kansas, who received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Kansas, and who has dedicated his life to serving the people of Kansas.”
Wamble initially was nominated for a circuit court vacancy earlier in the Biden administration, but the nomination expired before he could be confirmed by the Senate. He later was nominated for the district court seat in Kansas.
Politico was first to report Wamble’s withdrawal.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who specializes in the federal judiciary, said he was “puzzled” by the withdrawal. Tobias said Wamble seems well qualified after more than a decade of experience as an assistant U.S. attorney, often a route to becoming a federal judge.
“Lots of people go on the federal bench in Democratic and Republican administrations with similar qualifications to Wamble, so it’s mystifying to me,” Tobias said.
