{"id":2270077,"date":"2024-06-17T21:28:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T01:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veered-off-a-very-dangerous-road-judge-backs-off-from-threat-to-punish-journalist-over-covenant-reporting\/"},"modified":"2024-06-17T21:33:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T01:33:12","slug":"veered-off-a-very-dangerous-road-judge-backs-off-from-threat-to-punish-journalist-over-covenant-reporting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veered-off-a-very-dangerous-road-judge-backs-off-from-threat-to-punish-journalist-over-covenant-reporting\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Retreats from Threatening Journalist with Punishment for Reporting on Covenant"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fveered-off-a-very-dangerous-road-judge-backs-off-from-threat-to-punish-journalist-over-covenant-reporting%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2270077&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A \u200djudge in Tennessee \u2062appeared to reconsider her earlier threat of holding a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fox-news-moving-martha-maccallum-to-3pm-slot-7pm-slot-to-be-filled-with-conservative-opinion-show\/\" title=\"FOX News Moving Martha MacCallum To 3PM Slot \u2013 7PM Slot To Be Filled With Conservative Opinion Show\">news executive<\/a>, Michael Patrick \u200dLeahy\u2062 of the Tennessee Star, in contempt of court for \u200dhis publication\u2019s articles about the writings of a transgender shooter who committed \u2063a deadly \u2062attack at a Christian school\u200d in Nashville. During a\u2063 court hearing, Davidson\u2063 County\u200b Judge I\u2019Ashea Myles clarified that she \u200cwanted to better understand the context \u200dof the situation and\u2064 declared that\u200b there would not be any contempt proceedings \u2062initiated \u200bat that time. Leahy, who is suing Nashville for \u200ca complete release of a report on the \u2064Covenant School shooting, \u200bhad his legal representative express \u2063relief over the judge\u2019s decision not to\u2064 pursue\u200c contempt \u200dcharges,\u2062 highlighting the importance of protecting lawful journalistic reporting. This legal tussle revolves around whether to publicize the\u2063 writings of the shooter, who killed \u200dsix at the \u200cschool on March 27, 2023. Nashville has resisted releasing the \u200cshooter&#8217;s documents and some parents have requested these writings\u2063 be sealed, whereas the \u200cTennessee\u200b Star has already started publishing \u200bcontent from \u2063the shooter&#8217;s journals. Initially, \u2062Judge Myles indicated Leahy could face contempt\u200d for potentially breaching a court order, but\u2064 at the \u200chearing, she\u200c focused on \u200cunderstanding how the publications\u2062 might affect the case rather than pursuing punitive measures immediately.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A judge appeared to back off threats to hold a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/conservative-journalist-says-first-amendment-in-jeopardy-as-he-faces-punishment-over-articles-on-covenant-shooter\">Tennessee news executive in contempt<\/a> of court for publishing articles on the writings of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-your-sign-to-catechize-your-kids-and-yourself\/\" title=\"This Is Your Sign To Catechize Your Kids \u2014 And Yourself\">transgender-identifying shooter<\/a> who killed six people at a Christian school in Nashville last year. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tennessee Star Executive Michael Patrick Leahy was ordered to appear on Monday for a contempt of court hearing over his publication of the articles that quote from the writings of the Covenant School shooter. But at the start of the highly anticipated hearing, Davidson County Judge I\u2019Ashea Myles said she was just trying to \u201cunderstand the landscape\u201d of developments surrounding the case, and that contempt proceedings would not commence. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Daniel Horowitz, a lawyer representing Leahy, said after the hearing that he was confused about the point of the hearing, but was glad that there was no initiation of contempt proceedings against Leahy, who has sued the city of Nashville seeking a full release of their report on the Covenant School shooting. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI don\u2019t know how this evolved or why, but I\u2019m glad the press isn\u2019t being threatened with jail time today. That\u2019s a welcome development,\u201d Horowitz told reporters, including The Daily Wire, after the hearing. \u201cI don\u2019t want reporters going to jail for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prince-harry-sues-publisher-for-406000-citing-hard-evidence\/\" title=\"Prince Harry files 6,000 lawsuit against publisher, citing 'strong proof'.\">lawful reporting<\/a>. That\u2019s why we were here today.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Horowitz added that he was encouraged that it seemed like \u201cwe have veered off a very dangerous road threatening reporters for lawful reporting.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The hearing was the latest in the legal back-and-forth over the writings of the shooter who killed three children and three adults in a March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School. The city of Nashville has so far blocked any release of the shooter\u2019s documents, while a group of parents from the school have also sought to have the writings sealed from public view. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Tennessee Star began publishing a series of articles earlier this month quoting from the shooter\u2019s writings, noting that it had obtained images of roughly eighty pages of one of the shooter\u2019s journals. Last week, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Myles suggested that Leahy might be held in contempt over the articles for violating an unspecified court order. However, Myles said on Monday that the hearing\u2019s purpose was for her to determine whether the publication of articles on some of the shooter\u2019s writings should impact her ruling regarding the full release. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Myles initial order last week said that Leahy must demonstrate why the \u201cpublication of certain purported documents\u201d does not \u201cviolate the Orders of this Court subjecting them to contempt proceedings and sanctions.\u201d Leahy was not given the opportunity to make this case. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a statement after the hearing, Leahy said that he would continue to practice his First Amendment rights. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe started The Tennessee Star so I could exercise my First Amendment rights. I think we have served the public well, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to continue to exercise our First Amendment rights,\u201d Leahy <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrentScher\/status\/1802757079087657432\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> reporters. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1lrGLFz2cz8hF5rjKUgf7njiD_kC4nyn-\/view\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">follow up order<\/a> on Friday denying an appeal from Leahy to dismiss the contempt hearing, Myles amended her order for Monday\u2019s hearing, saying that it would be for the court to \u201cascertain the veracity of any alleged leak which may have occurred in this matter and if true, any effect on the status of these proceedings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the end of Monday\u2019s hearing, Myles said that she now \u201cunderstood\u201d what she needed to know about the case, and that she would issue a ruling. It is unclear if this ruling will be about whether there will be a future contempt hearing for Leahy or if it will pertain to the lawsuit against Nashville. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last week, The Daily Wire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis?topStoryPosition=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published photos<\/a> of the attacker\u2019s journal obtained by\u00a0a source familiar with the Covenant investigation. The pages showed a woman who had been consumed by transgender ideology and conveyed her anger at Christianity and her parents over their traditional views.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A judge reconsidered threats to charge Tennessee Star Executive Michael Patrick Leahy with contempt for reporting on a transgender shooter who killed six at a Nashville Christian school. Leahy, who published articles about the shooter&#8217;s writings, was summoned to court on Monday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":2270078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1249665135.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2270077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1249665135.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2270077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2270078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}