Murfreesboro Post appeals mosque ruling

The Murfreesboro Post filed an appeal Tuesday in the Tennessee Court of Appeals contending a Rutherford County judge unfairly targeted the publication and later erred by declining to rule on its legal status, as part of the on-going litigation over construction of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro.

In the appeal, attorney David LaRoche contends Chancellor Robert Corlew III unnecessarily created controversy when none existed prior to the Islamic Center lawsuit, yet declined to rule on its status as a newspaper of general circulation.

As a result of those doubts being raised, he is arguing The Post has suffered a decline in advertising revenue for many types of legal notices even though it meets the definition of a newspaper of general circulation under Tennessee law.

The Post is a free newspaper that is published every Thursday and Sunday, and it is distributed to racks throughout Rutherford County. The locally owned publication also offers home delivery subscriptions to readers who live in the Middle Tennessee area.

“Other than the public notice in this case, there has never been a challenge to the adequacy of any other legal notice in The Post,” LaRoche said in the appeal, which is scheduled to be heard in March.

Furthermore, he said, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office has never withdrawn its opinion classifying The Post as a newspaper of general circulation.

Murfreesboro Post, 19 February 2013