James Dale Williams

In a January 18, 2011 Herald Sun editorial, the writer asks what should happen in the aftermath of the recent NC Court of Appeals opinion in Bohannan v. McManaway.

Serious allegations being made by a custody case lawyer against Orange County Chief District Court Judge Joe Buckner raise harrowing questions about whether just such a perversion of justice occurred. An opinion in an N.C. Court of Appeals ruling overturning Buckner's decision in a custody case grimly scolded that the judge's order contained "patently false" information and that Buckner's handling of the case was an "entire charade." At stake here is the court's integrity, the judge's reputation and a vastly diminished public trust. The ponderous question is what happens now?