A Tennessee news executive says his First Amendment and due process rights are in jeopardy as he faces punishment over his publication of articles on the writings of the transgender-identifying shooter who killed six people at the Christian Covenant School in Nashville in March 2023. 

Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy was ordered to show up in Davidson County court on Monday for a contempt hearing after his outlet published multiple articles quoting from the writings of the woman who killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School on March 27, 2023. The articles quoted from the writings of the shooter, disclosing that it had obtained images of the full journal that was recovered by police at the scene of the shooting. 

In her order, Judge I’Ashea Myles 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.”

On Wednesday, Leahy’s legal team filed an emergency appeal in response arguing that Myles’ order endangers freedom of the press and violates his right to due process. The appeal, which has since been denied, argued that the hearing should be set aside because it violates Tennessee laws protecting reporters and rules on contempt proceedings. 

“Tennessee has enacted a robust media ‘shield law’ that protects reporters from being compelled to reveal any information—or the source of any information—procured for publication or broadcast,” the court filing says. “Such compulsion would also seriously undermine freedom of the press and news gathering generally.”

The Tennessee Star has not disclosed the details of how it obtained the documents, which is standard practice in the journalism profession.

On Friday, Axios reported that a retired Nashville police lieutenant has been singled out regarding the leak of records regarding the shooting investigation. Those records have been kept hidden from the public for more than a year. The lieutenant, Garet Davidson, has filed a whistleblower complaint regarding mismanagement at the department, and has appeared on Leahy’s Tennessee Star show in recent weeks.

Myles did not specify in her order what specific court orders she was referring to that might lead to Leahy and Star Digital Media being held in contempt. 

“By failing to identify the previous orders — or the provisions within them —  that this Court believes Mr. Leahy may have violated, though, this  Court’s Show Cause Order does not afford Mr. Leahy meaningful notice of the concerns that he is being ordered to address,” Leahy’s legal filing says. 

If Myles’ order did restrict Leahy “from publishing lawfully obtained documents to his readership,” that order is constitutionally suspect, the filing says. 

“None of this Court’s earlier orders appears — at least to the undersigned — to contemplate such a drastic restriction,” the filing says. “If this Court  interprets one of its earlier orders that way, though, then the order is a  prior restraint that suffers from serious constitutional infirmities and is  presumptively unconstitutional.”

For well over a year, Nashville police have refused to release the writings of the shooter arguing that the investigation into the shooting is ongoing. In response, there are two ongoing lawsuits, one against the FBI and the other against the city, pushing for the release of all the shooter’s writings.

On Wednesday, The Daily Wire published photos of the attacker’s journal obtained by a source familiar with the Covenant investigation. The entries show that she had a deep-seated hatred for Christianity and her parents for pushing back against her desire to identify as a male.

In a major blow to the Biden administration’s new Title IX guidelines forcing public schools to allow trans-identifying males in girls’ bathrooms and sports, a federal judge on Thursday blocked the rules in four states.

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, issued a preliminary injunction against the rules, calling them an “abuse of power” by federal agencies and a “threat to democracy.”

The injunction blocks the rules in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho. Louisiana sued the administration in April, and the other three states joined the suit.

“Title IX was written and intended to protect biological women from discrimination,” Doughty wrote. “Such purpose makes it difficult to sincerely argue that, at the time of enactment, ‘discrimination on the basis of sex’ included gender identity, sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics. Enacting the changes in the Final Rule would subvert the original purpose of Title IX: protecting biological females from discrimination.”

Since the rules were announced, more than 20 states have joined lawsuits against the administration over its new Title IX rules, which appear to conflict with laws in several states restricting trans-identifying male students from playing on girls’ teams or using girls’ facilities.

In April, the Education Department unveiled the new Title IX regulations, which prohibit schools from enforcing blanket bans on trans-identifying males in girls’ sports. The rules are set to take effect in August.

Title IX is the 1972 federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at schools receiving federal funding.

The Biden administration’s new regulations will apply to all public K-12 schools, colleges, and universities that receive federal funding, excluding the four states where the rules have been blocked.

The new rules state that schools that receive federal funding may not ban biological males in girls’ sports wholesale, but they may exclude them on a case-by-case basis.

“Sex-related criteria” at schools that would limit or ban a trans-identifying student from playing on the team of their preferred gender must meet two standards. First, the criteria must be related to an “important educational objective,” and second, the criteria must also “minimize harms” to the trans-identified student.

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Preventing sports-related injuries would be an example of an “important educational objective,” the department noted.

High school girls have been injured playing with trans-identifying males. Last year in North Carolina, a female high school volleyball player suffered severe trauma to her head and neck after a trans-identifying male player spiked a volleyball that hit her head.

Another example of an “important educational objective” would be “fairness in competition.”

Female athletes at high schools and colleges in several states have spoken out against competing against biological males.

After Thursday’s ruling, the Education Department said it is reviewing the judge’s order.

“The Department stands by the final Title IX regulations released in April 2024, and we will continue to fight for every student,” the department said.