A judge appeared to back off threats to hold a Tennessee news executive in contempt of court for publishing articles on the writings of a transgender-identifying shooter who killed six people at a Christian school in Nashville last year. 

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’Ashea Myles said she was just trying to “understand the landscape” of developments surrounding the case, and that contempt proceedings would not commence. 

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. 

“I don’t know how this evolved or why, but I’m glad the press isn’t being threatened with jail time today. That’s a welcome development,” Horowitz told reporters, including The Daily Wire, after the hearing. “I don’t want reporters going to jail for lawful reporting. That’s why we were here today.” 

Horowitz added that he was encouraged that it seemed like “we have veered off a very dangerous road threatening reporters for lawful reporting.” 

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’s documents, while a group of parents from the school have also sought to have the writings sealed from public view. 

The Tennessee Star began publishing a series of articles earlier this month quoting from the shooter’s writings, noting that it had obtained images of roughly eighty pages of one of the shooter’s journals. Last week, 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’s purpose was for her to determine whether the publication of articles on some of the shooter’s writings should impact her ruling regarding the full release. 

Myles initial order last week said that Leahy must demonstrate why the “publication of certain purported documents” does not “violate the Orders of this Court subjecting them to contempt proceedings and sanctions.” Leahy was not given the opportunity to make this case. 

In a statement after the hearing, Leahy said that he would continue to practice his First Amendment rights. 

“We 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,” Leahy told reporters. 

In a follow up order on Friday denying an appeal from Leahy to dismiss the contempt hearing, Myles amended her order for Monday’s hearing, saying that it would be for the court to “ascertain the veracity of any alleged leak which may have occurred in this matter and if true, any effect on the status of these proceedings.”

At the end of Monday’s hearing, Myles said that she now “understood” 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. 

Last week, The Daily Wire published photos of the attacker’s journal obtained by a 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.

Waylon Jennings’ son, Shooter Jennings, shared on Father’s Day that he’s found a “treasure trove” of unheard music that his dad made and said he will release it all in a new album.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, Shooter wrote that he’d found never-before-heard music his dad recorded before the country legend died in 2002, and said that a new album with his dad’s songs will be coming in 2025.

“When I was young, in the house that I grew up in, there was a room that was always locked. The ‘storage room’ is what my parents call it,” Shooter wrote. “I have vivid memories of dozens of grey boxes in cubby holes with notes jotted in marker on the outside. I knew what was in those boxes was my dad’s work.”

Years after his dad died, Shooter explained that tapes his father had left in his office or in various studios around Nashville were all compiled and transferred to digital drives, but they just sat. In 2014, the process took place again to put the music on even more modern drives, but once again they sat “waiting,” until recently.

“What I expected to find was a catalog of all of my dad’s albums and recordings,” the late-singer’s son wrote. “I knew there were a few songs that were never released, for whatever reasons, so I had my fingers crossed that I would maybe find something special and rare along the way that I could share with you.”

Shooter Jennings announcing that’s there’s a bunch of new Waylon Jennings material getting released next year is cool as hell. pic.twitter.com/M6mq5TfUOk

— brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) June 17, 2024

“What I found was massive historical documentation of a man and a band with an incredible friendship, worth ethic and deep passion for playing and recording music,” he added. “What I found was way beyond my wildest fantasies.”

Shooter said he then set out to bring life to those “lost” and with the help of a pal, Shooter said he has done it, Whiskey Riff.com noted.

“I’m in possession of a treasure trove of previously unheard full band Waylon Jennings multi-track recording from the 70’s and early 80’s and I have begun preparing the material to be mixed…” Jennings wrote.

“These are not demos. These are not unfinished, but, they will take some time to explore, prepare, and mix,” he added. “You’ve got something to look forward to – there will be new, classic Waylon Jennings music in 2025. Stay tuned.”

Related: Johnny Cash Album With Never-Before-Heard Tracks Coming This Summer