Mississippi judge vacates her order that a newspaper remove its editorial criticizing local leaders

A Mississippi judge on Wednesday vacated her order that a newspaper remove its editorial criticizing local officials, days after a city decided to drop the lawsuit that spurred it.

The judge’s order had been widely condemned by free speech advocates as a clear violation of the paper’s First Amendment rights.

Chancery Judge Crystal Wise Martin had issued the restraining order against the Clarksdale Press Register last week, telling it to remove from its website a Feb. 8 editorial titled “Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust.” The piece criticized the city for not sending the newspaper notice about a meeting the board held regarding a proposed tax on alcohol, marijuana and tobacco.

The board of commissioners dropped the suit Monday at the request of Mayor Chuck Espy, who cited an offer from the paper’s owner to run a clarification. However, Emmerich Newspapers president Wyatt Emmerich said he made that offer before the city filed its lawsuit and that it was no longer on the table.

Emmerich had offered to clarify that the council said the lack of notification wasn’t a deliberate attempt to hide the meeting, according to a text message Emmerich sent to the city attorney. The text also offered to clarify that a sentence questioning whether there was “kick-back from the community” should have said “push back.”

The city’s lawsuit called the editorial libelous and said it “chilled and hindered” the city’s efforts to lobby for the tax with state legislators. The newspaper and other critics of the ruling said the order was a clear example of prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment.

The order drew widespread criticism from press groups and free speech advocates around the country, including the National Press Club and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression had agreed to represent the newspaper in court.