The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee last Thursday amended its local rules following a nearly three-year fight by Nashville-based civil rights attorney Daniel Horwitz, who filed a federal lawsuit after the court issued a gag order which prevented him from discussing a case against the private prison company, CoreCivic.
Horwitz filed the federal lawsuit last October, about two years after he was subject to a gag order over his public statements regarding CoreCivic. He was then representing clients suing the private prison company, who have since settled, and made a series of claims about the company while publicly advocating the case.
These statements were deemed prejudicial under local rule 83.04, which until it was changed last week, stipulated that any attorney involved “in the investigation or litigation” cannot make “an extrajudicial statement” if the attorney “knows or reasonable should know” the statement “will be disseminated by public communication, and will have substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing” ongoing court proceedings, jeopardizing the right to a fair trial.
After Horwitz (pictured above) sued, claiming the rule was unconstitutionally vague, the language was stricken from a new version adopted on Thursday. The new version merely requires attorneys to comply with the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct.
Institute for Justice attorney Jared McClain, who represented Horwitz in his federal lawsuit, called the decision a “huge win for the First Amendment” in a press release.
“Attorneys have a right to discuss their cases, and the public has a right to know what the government and its contractors are doing wrong,” said McClain.
Horwitz similarly said he was “thrilled” that his First Amendment rights were restored, but also that he could “resume informing the public about civil rights abuses across Middle Tennessee.”
He added, “This important victory also would not have been possible without the dedicated civil rights lawyers at the Institute for Justice and Southeastern Legal Foundation, to whom I will always be grateful.”
The attorney quickly resumed his advocacy on the social media platform X, where he lambasted CoreCivic’s private prisons as “chronically understaffed death factories.”
Horwitz previously successfully represented Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, when Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles ordered him to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court last June.
The hearing was called by Myles shortly after Leahy legally obtained the 2023 journal left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale after she claimed the lives of six on March 27, 2023. The Star ultimately published the killer’s 2023 journal last September.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Daniel Horowitz” by danielhorowitz.com.
I’ve retained Mr. Horwitz’s services in the past as well and he was one of the most professional and expeditious attorneys that I’ve communicated with formally or informally. Would recommend but, hopefully, will never need his service again.