Another violation of the First Amendment and the principal of “Prior Restraint”? A Mississippi judge orders a local newspaper to remove an editorial criticizing the city:
The city sued the publishers of the Clarksdale Press Register over an editorial from February 8, which criticized officials for failing to notify the public about a hearing on proposed tax increases.
On Tuesday, without a hearing to review the allegations, Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin ordered the newspaper to “remove” the column from its website.
Note: the article contains a link to an archive of the editorial in question.
The Streisand effect strikes again. Want to bury a story on the Internet? Do this and get thousands of times more hits than before.
Since the article has been published, this is not prior restraint. The TRO is a big issue as well. The “T” stands for “temporary”. A hearing has to be called ASAP. The hearing is a ways off in TRO terms. That’s yet another problem.
If it’s libel, then let the “victims” go to civil court and sue for damages. How long the article is up can be a factor in the damages awarded. The paper can size up the situation and decide if they have a good case, etc.
Just for those who haven’t read the article or the editorial, the Judge’s actions were based on concerns (by the city officials) that the paper’s claims rose to the level of defamation, actual malice, and likely interference in their efforts to produce legislation.
The first two of which, as we’ve seen in many threads, are normally incredibly different to prove in a court of law, especially against public figures, and yet here, with no hearing, largely ignored.
Yeah, this is a blatant attack on the First Amendment and any non-compliant (with TPTB) reporting. If Fox News was held to the standards this judge has allowed, it would have been shut down on day 1 of a Biden presidency and forced to take down 98% of all it’s progragmming.
Apparently, the City has realized this is a really bad look for them:
A Mississippi city dropped its lawsuit Monday against a newspaper that had its editorial criticizing local leaders removed by a judge in a case that sparked widespread outrage from First Amendment advocates.
The city of Clarksdale’s board of commissioners sought to dismiss its libel lawsuit against The Clarksdale Press Register, filing the request moments after its board of commissioners approved the move.
The judge in the case must still dismiss her order that the editorial be removed from the paper’s website, which the city also asked her to do. She had originally set a hearing for Thursday in the case.
I forgot to mention the qualifications: A qualified elector, a resident of the county two years preceding the day of election, a high school graduate or its equivalent, and completion of a course of training required by law within six months of the beginning of the term of office.