Former Shelby Baptist Minister, President of the NAACP in two counties and founder of the Southern Coalition for Equal Protection Under the Law (SCEPUL) has filed a “Notice of Intent” to file a complaint against Senior Superior Court Judge in Judicial District 27B. Which includes Cleveland and Lincoln Counties. That Judge is Forrest Donald Bridges.
Without further ado, this is exactly what Rev. Murphy’s Notice of Intent (dated October 13, 2020) to Judge Bridges stated:
INTENT TO FILE COMPLAINT–JUDGE FORREST D. BRIDGES
From: Rev. Dante Murphy
To. Judge Forrest Donald Bridges
Judge Bridges,
Prior to filing a complaint against you I wanted to give you an opportunity to respond to the serious allegations made against you regarding a recent ruling involving Mayor Stan Anthony of the City of Shelby:
1. Upon information and belief you are being accused of having a relationship with Mayor Anthony that would have disqualified you from presiding over matters that include him as a defendant or plaintiff.
2. The quick turnaround between the time Mayor Stan Anthony filed for summary judgement and having a hearing calendared within a few days corroborates favoritism.
3. The conclusions in your ruling are so remedial that it brings into question your judicial integrity.
We expect better out of our elected officials and hope you will respond as soon as possible to this inquiry.
Rev. Dante’ Murphy
Southern Coalition for Equal Protections Under the Law
Editor’s Note: We are also concerned and disturbed about Judge Bridges ruling in the Willie Green vs. Stan Anthony defamation case. We are presently reviewing Judge Bridges’ Order that favors Shelby Mayor Stan Anthony and will soon be publishing our findings. Judge Bridges has been the Senior Superior Court Judge for many years, but, until now, we have not had the opportunity to do “Court Watching” when Judge Bridges was presiding. Or had any complaints regarding Judge Bridges that merited our attention-that we knew of. However, it appears now that that has changed.
It appears that the actual Complaint would properly be filed with the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission.
Judge Bridges’ ruling is a Public Record and is provided below for your convenience. And information. Stay Tuned for further developments.
Don Bridges-MSJ Order filed 2020-10-07