A Mississippi state judge has taken the extraordinary action of ordering a newspaper to erase an editorial from its website, claiming that the editorial included undue criticisms of city government officials — a ruling that is in direct violation of First Amendment press freedoms, critics are saying.

The Clarksdale Press Register published an editorial on February 8 criticizing the city for failing to properly inform the public or local news media about a meeting on proposed tax increases on alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. The monies collected from this tax increase are meant to raise funding for the city’s police force.

Although the editorial agreed with the fund in principle, it disagreed with the method the city took to pass the increase on so-called “sin taxes,” as a meeting on the proposal was held in private, and the only notice given about the initiative was posted at city hall.

“Why did the City of Clarksdale fail to go to the public with details about this idea before it sent a resolution to the Mississippi Legislature seeking a two-percent tax on alcohol, marijuana and tobacco?” the paper’s editorial board asked. Although the notice at city hall said officials would inform media about the upcoming meeting, they failed to follow........

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