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The Clarksdale Press Register has been covering local news in and around Clarksdale, Mississippi since 1865. Residents can count on seeing its editor/publisher, Floyd Ingram, at local performances, restaurants, and sporting events. But if he spends his time in one place (besides his office), it’s city hall.

That’s where he was when he first heard that the Mayor and Board of Commissioners were considering a tax on alcohol, marijuana, tobacco that would fund fire and police services. But when the Mayor and Board held a special, unplanned meeting in February 2025 to vote on a new version of the tax that also subsidized “economic growth,” Ingram wasn’t there. Why not? Because the City didn’t give the Press Register notice of the impromptu meeting, as it had for all such meetings prior.

Ingram felt discouraged by the City’s lack of transparency, so he wrote an editorial expressing that opinion and questioning its motive for freezing out the press. Rather than taking their licks, the Clarksdale Board of Commissioners made a shocking move by voting to sue Ingram, the Press Register, and its parent company Emmerich Newspapers for “libel.” Just days later, a state court judge granted the City’s motion for a temporary restraining order to force the newspaper to take down the editorial. Even worse, the Press Register did not have an opportunity to make its case before the judge issued the restraining order.

FIRE called national attention to the Press Register’s plight and shone a spotlight on the City’s violation of the First Amendment. FIREalso agreed to represent the Press Register and Ingram. After fierce backlash from across the country, the City voted to withdraw its case and the corresponding restraining order on February 24, 2025.