Statements made by Leon County Circuit Court Judge Kevin Davey during a pre-trial hearing in a civil case brought by the parents of Rachel Hoffman against the city of Tallahassee drew an immediate and strong reaction from First Amendment advocates.
“We don't see the justification for the gag order in this particular case," said Adria Harper, director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation. “It seems too broad.”
The ACLU and the Tallahassee Democrat are considering a challenge to the order.
Davey not only prohibited parties in the case from talking to the media – and anyone else – about the civil case, but he also prohibited Hoffman’s parents from speaking publicly on legislation known as Rachel’s Law outside of legislative hearings.
Davey is an experienced judge, but this decision – so far there is no written order, only oral instructions on how the order should be written – is poorly done and not well researched.
How could it be otherwise? Davey said during the hearing he had only gotten the case a few hours before the hearing.
“But, you know, I try to sort of avoid things that I think might be mine. You know, if you're a criminal judge, and there is a crime, you know that's going to be your case probably. You've got a 50 percent chance of getting it,” Davey said, according to a transcript of the hearing.
He didn’t bother to hear arguments from either side before making his decision or consider whether the case meets any of the high standards the courts have imposed for issuing gag orders. There was no careful examination of the facts, maybe not any examination of the facts. The judge appears to have been acting on information he thought he knew from outside of the courtroom.
I say that because the judge said so.
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