Mississippi city drops libel lawsuit against local paper forced to remove editorial critical of officials

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In a surprising reversal, Clarksdale, Mississippi, is dropping its lawsuit against a local paper after previously accusing it of libel.

On Feb. 13, the City of Clarksdale’s four commissioners voted unanimously to sue the Clarksdale Press Register for what it claimed to be libel. Specifically, the city took issue with a Feb. 8 editorial titled "Secrecy, Deception Erode Public Trust" that claimed the mayor and commissioners did not properly inform the media about a meeting to discuss a new tax.

"The notice was posted at city hall as required by law and said stated the city would 'give appropriate notice thereof to the media,'" the editorial read. However, "This newspaper was never notified. We know of no other media organization that was notified." 

It added, "Have commissioners or the mayor gotten kick-back from the community? Until Tuesday we had not heard of any. Maybe they just want a few nights in Jackson to lobby for this idea - at public expense."

The City of Clarksdale sued the Clarksdale Press Register for libel. (Google Earth | Brian A. Jackson/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

MISSISSIPPI JUDGE ORDERS LOCAL PAPER TO REMOVE EDITORIAL CRITICAL OF CITY COUNCIL

On Feb. 18, Chancery Court of Hinds County Judge Crystal Wise Martin granted the city’s petition for a temporary restraining order to remove the editorial from their website and make it "inaccessible" to the public. 

Nearly one week later, though, Clarksdale’s board of commissioners filed a new request on Monday to dismiss the lawsuit. 

Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy mentioned some kind of compromise, which the paper's owner denies was still on the table.

"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," Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy told the board before its vote. "I’m grateful for the compromise."

Espy had told the Clarksdale Advocate on Friday that he would accept an offer based on a text message from Wyatt Emmerich, president of Emmerich Newspapers, the parent company of the Clarksdale Press Register, offering to clarify some of the claims in the editorial.

Clarksdale's board of commissioners voted in favor of dropping its lawsuit on Monday. (City of Clarksdale)

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"We will be willing to write a clarification that, according to the city council, the failure of the clerk to notify the newspaper, as is typical, was because she was extremely busy, not any deliberate effort to hide the meeting," Emmerich wrote, according to the undated message obtained by the Clarksdale Advocate. "We are also willing to agree that the use of the phrase ‘kick back from the community’ meant ‘push back from the community’ and did not intend to suggest anything illegal was going on."

However, Emmerich denied an agreement was made, telling Fox News Digital that his offer came before the lawsuit was officially filed and was no longer viable.

"The offer to publish a clarification was made by Emmerich Newspapers president on Feb. 14 on the condition that the city not file a lawsuit," Emmerich said. "The offer was rescinded the same day because Clarksdale Press Register publisher Floyd Ingram would not accept it without quitting. The city then filed the lawsuit on Feb. 14. A week later, Mayor Espy posted the clarification on his website saying we had reached an agreement. I gave no authorization for the mayor to publish the clarification nor say we reached an agreement. We have not published any clarification."

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released a statement in favor of the decision. (Google Earth | Photo by BRITTA PEDERSEN / DPA / AFP) (Photo by BRITTA PEDERSEN/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

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Emmerich added the city’s decision to drop the suit was "probably in response to the overwhelming national criticism it received" and that the paper will restore the original editorial after the judge rescinds the temporary restraining order, which the city has also requested.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Espy and his city attorneys for comment.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which agreed to defend the Press Register, praised the decision in a statement on Tuesday.

"If asking whether a politician might be corrupt was libel, virtually every American would be bankrupt," FIRE attorney Josh Bleisch said. "For good reason, courts have long held that political speech about government officials deserves the widest latitude and the strongest protection under the First Amendment. That’s true from the White House all the way down to your local councilman."