Judge Orders Mississippi Newspaper to Delete Editorial Criticizing Mayor, City Officials

Hinds County Chancery Judge Crystal Wise Martin during a hearing in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 23, 2022. Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo

A Mississippi judge on Feb. 18 ordered an editorial criticizing the mayor and city leaders to be taken down after the officials filed a lawsuit accusing the newspaper of defamation.

Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin issued a temporary restraining order mandating the removal of the article from The Clarksdale Press Register’s platforms in response to a request from the city.

In her order, the judge noted that the case involves allegations of “defamation against public figures through actual malice in reckless disregard of the truth and interferes with their legitimate function to advocate for legislation they believe would help their municipality during this current legislative cycle.”

The editorial in question, titled “Secrecy, deception erode public trust,” was published on Feb. 8.

It criticized the mayor and city officials for scheduling a special session to approve a state request to increase taxes on alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco four days prior without informing the public.

While the article began by supporting the so-called “sin tax” to help fund law enforcement and fight crime in Clarksdale, it went on to question why city officials failed to provide the public with details about the idea of implementing a 2 percent tax on the items before sending a resolution to the Mississippi Legislature.

The editorial also went on to question city officials’ interest in the resolution.

State law dictates that notices announcing specially called meetings be posted in a “prominent place available to examination and inspection by the general public in the building in which the public body normally meets,” at least an hour before the meeting begins.

The law also states that such notices must be published—also within an hour—to the public body’s website if it has the capability.

Additionally, a copy of the notice must be sent to “any citizen and any publication, broadcast and digital media with a general circulation or coverage within the public body’s jurisdiction, that has submitted in writing its interest to receive these notices,” the legislation states.

In an affidavit, the city clerk said she had posted a notice regarding the meeting on the door of the City Hall but had forgotten to email a copy of it to the media.

The clerk said Floyd Ingram, publisher and editor of The Clarksdale Press Register, had approached her after the meeting and that she apologized to him for forgetting to send him a notice.

Newspaper Vows to Fight Judge’s Order

The clerk said she gave Ingram a copy of the notice, an agenda of the meeting, and the resolution passed during the meeting along with other materials.

After the editorial was published, the city filed a lawsuit accusing the newspaper of defamation against public officials.

The lawsuit called the editorial libelous and said it “chilled and hindered” the city’s efforts to lobby for the tax with state legislators.

Martin sided with the city after finding its accusations were sufficient to justify a temporary restraining order.

She directed the newspaper to take down the editorial from its online portals and make it inaccessible to the public. The judge also scheduled a hearing for the city’s request for a preliminary injunction for Feb. 27.

Additionally, the city is required to post a $100 bond as security for any potential damages the defendants may incur if the temporary restraining order is later deemed improper.

The editorial has been removed from the website, per the court’s order.

“I think it’s dangerous that a judge would issue a temporary restraining order without a hearing,” Wyatt Emmerich, president of the paper’s parent company, Emmerich Newspapers, told The Associated Press following the judge’s order. “We’ll fight it and see where it goes.”

The Epoch Times has contacted The Clarksdale Press Register for further comment.

Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy welcomed the judge’s decision in a statement on Facebook, writing that the judge “ruled in our favor that a newspaper cannot tell a malicious lie and not be held liable.”

“The only thing that I ask, that no matter what you print, just let it be the truth; be it good or bad,” Espy said. “Thank you GOD for a judicial system.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.