Tag: Daniel Horwitz

Federal Court Sides with Tennessee Civil Rights Lawyer Daniel Horwitz, Rules Attorneys Cannot Face Contempt for Private Speech

Tom Pappert
Daniel Horowitz

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.

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Tennessee Lawyer Sues over Federal Court Rule Cited to Limit Attorney Speech Under Threat of Contempt

Tom Pappert
Daniel Horowitz

Tennessee civil rights lawyer Daniel Horwitz is suing the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Tennessee over a 2022 gag order demanding he cease commenting publicly about a case or be held in contempt of court, arguing a rule cited by the federal court too broadly restricts attorney speech.

Horwitz, in a lawsuit first reported Tuesday by the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee University on Tuesday, accuses the federal court system in Middle Tennessee of creating and enforcing an unconstitutionally vague rule that specifically limits the speech of attorneys through its gag order enforcing local rule 83.04 in his lawsuits against CoreCivic, the Tennessee-based private prison company being sued by Horwitz in multiple lawsuits.

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Tennessee Judge Denies Motion by Star News CEO in Covenant Killer Writings Case, Raises Possibility of Prosecution as Leahy Files Emergency Appeal

Tom Pappert
Michael Patrick Leahy in Court

Michael Patrick Leahy, who is the editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star and the CEO of  Star News Digital Media, Inc., on Thursday filed an emergency appeal with the Middle Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Leahy seeks to obtain a stay to would stop the Show Cause Hearing set in the June 10 order by Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles for Monday in the Tennessee case to unseal the writings of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

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