Judge withdraws order that a Clarksdale newspaper must take down editorial

By Overby Center Staff

Chancery Court Judge Crystal Wise Martin has withdrawn her order that the Clarksdale Press Register must take down an editorial criticizing local officials for not providing notice of a meeting to consider a tax increase.

The judge vacated her order after the city dropped its libel suit against the newspaper. The judge’s order had drawn widespread criticism from First Amendment advocates and journalists, including the National Press Club and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Critics generally said the order amounted to a prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment. 

The editorial, headlined “Secrecy, deception erode public trust,” was published Feb. 8. The city sued for libel on Feb. 14 and said the editorial “chilled and hindered” the mayor’s ability to lobby for the legislation with the Mississippi Legislature in Jackson.  Martin, a judge of the chancery court in Hinds County, granted the city’s temporary restraining order and the motion to take down the editorial without a hearing.

The Press Register is owned by Emmerich Newspapers. The group’s president, Wyatt Emmerich, said he planned to republish the editorial. Clarksdale is a town of about 14,000 in the Mississippi Delta. The Press Register has been published since 1865.