A judge in Mississippi has mandated that a local newspaper retract an editorial that was critical of the mayor and city officials, a lawsuit that has alarmed advocates for press freedom and raises concerns over First Amendment rights.
Chancery Judge Crystal Wise Martin issued a temporary restraining order against the Clarksdale Press Register on Tuesday, linked to an editorial published on February 8 titled “Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust.” This editorial took the city to task for not notifying the newspaper about a meeting held by the City Council that was focused on a projected tax involving alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco.
Wyatt Emmerich, president of the newspaper’s parent company, Emmerich Newspapers, expressed his concern, stating, “It’s alarming that a judge would issue such an order without a hearing. We will challenge it and see how it progresses.” The city’s legal claim asserts that the editorial was libelous, positing that it had “chilled and hindered” the city’s advocacy for the tax among state legislators.
By Wednesday afternoon, the editorial had been removed from the newspaper’s website, as Judge Martin scheduled a hearing for February 27 regarding the situation. Mayor Chuck Espy contended that the editorial wrongly insinuated that the city had acted unlawfully in conduct of its meeting, also highlighting a question raised in the piece about possible kickbacks to city officials from the community.
“We support the media in their duties and advocate for transparency,” Mayor Espy commented. “What we ask for is truthfulness, which doesn’t seem like too much to expect.” Clarksdale is located approximately 71 miles (115 kilometers) south of Memphis, Tennessee. The restraining order has elicited significant backlash from reporters and media advocates both locally and nationally.
Layne Bruce, executive director of the Mississippi Press Association, described the order as a shocking action that infringes on press freedoms. “This is an outrageous order, and we believe it poses a severe threat to the First Amendment, fully supporting the Press Register’s right to report and comment on Clarksdale’s governance,” he stated.
Adding to the commentary, Lisa Zycherman, vice president of legal programs at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, asserted that the order exemplifies censorship and is clearly a grave infringement on First Amendment rights.
There have been rising instances of attempts to suppress news organizations in recent years. Earlier in 2023, a police department in Kansas conducted a raid on a newspaper’s offices and the home of its owner amid allegations of identity theft and other computer-related crimes connected to the acquisition and confirmation of information about a local business owner’s driving record. The raid prompted investigations, and the former police chief behind it faced charges last year for obstruction of justice.
