A Mississippi judge rescinded her directive to a local newspaper to take down an editorial criticizing city officials after a lawsuit prompting the order was abandoned by the city.
The judicial mandate had been heavily criticized by advocates for free speech, who saw it as a blatant infringement on the newspaper’s First Amendment rights.
Judge Crystal Wise Martin had initially issued a restraining order against the Clarksdale Press Register, compelling the removal of a February 8 editorial titled “Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust.” The editorial pointed out the city’s failure to notify the paper about a meeting concerning a proposed tax on substances like alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco.
The city’s board of commissioners opted to withdraw the lawsuit on Monday following a suggestion from Mayor Chuck Espy. This decision came after the newspaper’s owner, Wyatt Emmerich, had offered a clarification, although Emmerich later noted that the offer was made prior to the lawsuit and was no longer valid.
Emmerich had proposed clarifying that the council’s failure to notify the paper about the meeting wasn’t an intentional attempt to conceal it, revealed a text message to the city attorney. The text also mentioned that the editorial’s term “kick-back from the community” should have read “push back.”
The city had labeled the editorial as libelous, asserting that it hampered the city’s lobbying efforts with state legislators for the proposed tax. The order received considerable criticism, with detractors like the newspaper and other free speech proponents labeling it as a prime example of prior restraint, violating the First Amendment.
Numerous press organizations and free speech advocates nationally, such as the National Press Club and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, voiced their discontent over the order. Moreover, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression had pledged legal support to the newspaper in the ensuing court battle.
