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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.
“It's still very, very wrong what they did and it awakened the
entire First Amendment community nationally, which is very
encouraging,” said Wyatt Emmerich, president of Emmerich
Newspapers, the parent company of the paper. “I'm really excited
to see how all these people rallied around us to protect our
rights.”
Chancery Judge Crystal Wise Martin issued the restraining order
against the Press Register last week in connection with 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 City Council held regarding a proposed tax
on alcohol, marijuana and tobacco.
Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy told The Associated Press he asked
commissioners to drop the lawsuit because of an offer Emmerich
made to write a clarification. Emmerich, however, said that
offer was made before the lawsuit was filed and the judge's
order, and is “off the table.”
The city's request to the court doesn't mention the offer.
“I am very thankful that this matter is now resolved due to the
efforts of the owner of the Clarksdale Press Register and the
city of Clarksdale,” Espy told the board before it voted to drop
the suit. “I'm grateful for the compromise.”
The newspaper's owner 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 he had 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 order was widely criticized by multiple media and free
speech advocacy groups, including the National Press Club and
the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
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