A Mississippi judge issued a temporary restraining order for the Clarksdale Press Register to remove a critical editorial about the city from its website, prompting concerns among press advocates. The editorial, published on February 8, criticized Clarksdale officials for failing to notify the media about a special meeting where a tax proposal was discussed. The newspaper’s president, Wyatt Emmerich, vowed to challenge the order, arguing it violates free speech. City officials claim the editorial contains libelous statements that hinder their legislative efforts. Advocates for free speech have condemned the city’s actions as unconstitutional and a threat to press rights.
On Tuesday, a judge in Mississippi issued a temporary restraining order at the request of Clarksdale, mandating that a local newspaper remove a critical editorial from its online platform, a decision that raised concerns among advocates for press freedoms.
By Wednesday, The Clarksdale Press Register had complied with the order and taken down the editorial from its website. However, Wyatt Emmerich, president of Emmerich Newspapers, which owns The Press Register, indicated his intention to contest the judge’s decision at a hearing set for next week.
“In my five decades in this industry, I’ve never encountered anything like this,” Mr. Emmerich remarked in an interview, noting that the editorial in question simply critiqued the City Council for failing to issue the necessary public notifications.
The Press Register, established in 1865 and serving approximately 7,750 readers, published the editorial on February 8 with the headline, “Secrecy, deception erode public trust.”
The editorial critiqued Clarksdale officials, a city of roughly 14,000 residents bordering Arkansas, for allegedly failing to notify the media prior to a special meeting on February 4, during which they approved a resolution requesting the Mississippi Legislature to impose a 2 percent tax on alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco.
“This newspaper was never informed,” the editorial claimed. “We are unaware of any other media organizations that were notified.”
It also raised questions about the officials’ motivations behind the resolution.
“Have commissioners or the mayor received kickbacks from the community?” it queried. “Until Tuesday, we had not heard of any. Perhaps they are hoping for a few nights in Jackson to advocate for this idea — at taxpayer expense.”
On February 13, Clarksdale’s Board of Mayor and Commissioners voted to file a libel lawsuit against the newspaper, asserting that the city clerk had prepared a public notice for the February 4 board meeting but had forgotten to send it to Floyd Ingram, the editor and publisher of The Press Register, as is customary.
After the meeting, Mr. Ingram visited the clerk’s office, where she apologized for not sending him the notice and provided him with a copy of it along with the approved resolution, according to city officials.
In their lawsuit against The Press Register, city officials contended that Mayor Chuck Espy’s efforts to advocate for the tax proposal in Jackson, the state capital, had been “chilled and hindered” by what they termed the libelous statements made by Mr. Ingram.
On Tuesday, Judge Crystal Wise Martin of the Chancery Court of Hinds County, Mississippi, granted the city’s request for a temporary restraining order, instructing the newspaper to take down the editorial from its “online portals” and to ensure it was inaccessible to the public.
“The injury in this case involves defamation against public figures with actual malice in reckless disregard of the truth, interfering with their lawful function to advocate for legislation they believe would benefit their municipality during this legislative cycle,” Judge Martin stated.
Mr. Ingram referred inquiries on Wednesday to Emmerich Newspapers. Mr. Emmerich insisted that the editorial was a clear exercise of free speech protected by the Constitution.
“I struggle to understand how they can claim that a critical editorial is obstructing their operations in a country with a First Amendment that safeguards our right to criticize the government,” he commented. “That is the essence of what editorials in newspapers accomplish.”
The city’s lawsuit is part of an ongoing dispute that Mr. Emmerich characterized as a feud between The Press Register and Mr. Espy. He remarked that the newspaper had irritated the mayor and other officials by covering their salary increases and other matters, stating, “They’ve been targeting us ever since.”
Mr. Espy, a Democrat, countered that the increased salaries had “nothing to do with” the city’s lawsuit against the newspaper and “its malicious fabrications.” He mentioned that the city had previously threatened to sue the newspaper, which compelled it to retract an article.
“All we are asking from city government is to simply report the truth, whether it’s favorable or not,” Mr. Espy stated. “I’m grateful that the judge agreed to impose a T.R.O. against a rogue newspaper that continues to peddle falsehoods against the municipality.”
Adam Steinbaugh, a lawyer with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a pro-free speech organization, criticized the city’s lawsuit, declaring on social media that it was “wildly unconstitutional.”
He asserted that governments “cannot sue for libel” under the precedent set by New York Times v. Sullivan, the pivotal First Amendment ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964.
“Threats to free speech arise from all sectors of society, whether it’s the President of the United States or a mayor, and they span all political affiliations,” Mr. Steinbaugh remarked in an interview on Wednesday. He emphasized that once “we begin to undermine those rights, all other rights become at risk.”
Layne Bruce, executive director of the Mississippi Press Association, expressed support for The Press Register’s right to publish the editorial and its initiative to contest the judge’s order.
“This is an astonishing order,” he stated. “We believe it is egregious and chilling, clearly in violation of the First Amendment.”