You may not have heard about the event in Hinds County which has truly challenged the freedoms of democracy we take for granted.
The Clarksdale Press Register published an opinion piece and Hinds County Chancery Judge Crystal Wise Martin ordered the article be removed from the website.
This absurd ruling is absolutely unconstitutional.
First of all the article was an opinion piece on an editorial page. It was criticizing the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen.
That is exactly what the editorial pages were designed to do. A safe space to keep those in power in check and transparent.
Judge Martin has absolutely trampled over the freedoms of the press. I have no doubt the ruling will be overturned. There is no way something so blatantly overreaching will stand. Just because someone in the government got their feelings hurt over a scathing editorial they want to overturn more than 200 years of mostly peaceful governance.
I’m certainly glad they are dealing with that in Clarksdale. Nothing like rash behavior or knee jerk reactions exist here.That behavior would be rash and not thought out well.
But the issue of the government “patrolling” itself has been a popular one lately.
Locally, Tate County has hired Ricky Stevens to be Public Information Officer. I think this is a good move. Ricky will do well and keep them in line, but most importantly, Ricky understands that the government cannot police itself.
