An emergency motion filed on Wednesday requests Tennessee Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles set aside her June 10 court order which established a Show-Cause hearing on Monday. Myles issued the order after dozens of articles that reported writings from a journal recovered from Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale were published by The Tennessee Star.
Michael Patrick Leahy, who is the CEO of Star News Digital Media, Inc. and the editor-in-chief of The Star, was ordered by Myles to appear in court on Monday after WSMV 4 reporter Stacey Cameron claimed he called the court to ask Myles “if she was considering holding the Star or anyone else in contempt” due to its reporting.
A show cause hearing is generally a court order or demand from a judge for a party in a court case to explain why the court should not issue a motion ruling against them based on available evidence.
Myles is overseeing the Tennessee lawsuit in which both Leahy and Star News Digital Media, Inc. are plaintiffs seeking to compel the full release of Hale’s writings, including those that have been called a manifesto, by the Metro Nashville Police Department. Leahy and Star News Digital Media, Inc. are also plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit against the FBI for the same purpose.
In her June 10 order, Myles said Leahy must explain why the extensive reporting by The Star “does not violate the Orders of this Court.” If reporting by The Star is deemed to have violated any orders, which Myles did not enumerate, both Star News Digital Media, Inc. and Leahy could be subjected “to contempt proceedings and sanctions.”
Leahy’s emergency filing, submitted by nationally recognized First Amendment attorney Daniel A. Horwitz, argues that Myles should set aside her June 10 order because it did not enumerate which previous Orders of the Court were allegedly violated by Leahy or Star News Digital Media, Inc., steps outside the bounds of existing Tennessee law, fails to offer Leahy due process, and does not adhere to protections afforded to journalists.
“The Show Cause Order does not specify or otherwise identify ‘the Orders of this Court’ that it implies may have been violated.” The filing notes, “The Show Cause Order does make clear, however, that it is concerned with the acts – specifically, ‘the publication of certain purported documents and information’ – that transpired outside the presence of the Court.”
Additionally, the filing notes Myles’ order setting the show cause hearing references the publication of materials “outside the judicial record.”
By Tom Pappert
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