Father Concerned about Freedom the Press

Father Concerned about

Censorship by the Press

This is the letter my wife wrote to the editor about issues of concern to local citizens.  Nancy Daly, who edits of the Boone County Recorder, has refused to publish it.  This must have been what G. K. Chesterton meant when he remarked that the only people who have freedom of the press are those who own one.  Here is the letter that your local editress decided you shouldn't see.

For more information on the background of this letter see my earlier blog posts: 

Liberty in Danger

Bad Treatment at Chick-fil-A. Florence 

Link to Craig Burch Police Video

 Mother Concerned about

Poor Conduct and Abuses

    Nicole Duvall is a homeschooling mother of eight and an experienced duck owner. She is married to Boone County Conservation Supervisor, James Duvall. M. A.


On July 11th, I visited Chick-fil-A in Florence with four of my children. We received exemplary service, with one exception. We noticed a mother duck with 10 ducklings in the parking lot with cars whizzing by, and tried to take them to safety. (A Chick-fil-A employee provided us with a box for this purpose.) One of the managers, Julie, then came outside and accused my kids of trying to take the ducks away from their mother, which we weren't—we were going to take her along too. She said several times, "I could call the Wildlife people right now..." and it was clear that she enjoyed the contemplation of causing trouble. If she had been concerned about the animals, she should have called the Wildlife authorities to ask them to pick up the birds.

Instead, she took my license plate number and contacted the local police dept. in an attempt to have me charged with "stealing geese" even though she witnessed my kids letting the ducks go at her insistence.

Florence officer Craig Burch drove to my home at Big Bone, banged on our windows, and threatened to "call welfare" if I didn't come out and talk to him. This kind of coercion is illegal, but it is used routinely against people by officers who know that it usually gets them what they want. Mr. Burch continued threatening for some time, and my husband was able to record him on our webcam.

At long last he left, but then made a bogus complaint with the federal authorities, which was followed by Fish and Wildlife officers.  Burch's supervisor, Sgt. Chad Irwin said that the department had more important things to do than to pursue the false complaint. Unfortunately, he was more concerned that Julie lied to them than that his officer had acted in an unethical and illegal manner.

Our recording shows Burch looking in our window, arguing with my husband, and refusing to leave after multiple requests.  These abuses are illegal and that the law supposedly protects us from such conduct. The trouble comes when those we entrust with upholding the law become the actual violators.

I have asked Chick-fil-A for an appropriate response, but the operator is avoiding further discussion. I will be attending the next Florence City Council meeting to protest the poor conduct and illegal intrusion of Officer Burch. We feel that the citizens of Boone County have a right to know of abuses that they may be subject to and request that you contact your council members and other officials, as well as the management at Chick-fil-A to voice your concern.

Thank you,

Nicole Duvall

Big Bone, Kentucky