Federal judge orders conservative nonprofit attorney to explain interviews on Fox News, Newsmax

A U.S. District Judge ordered an attorney from the Southeastern Legal Foundation to answer why sanctions shouldn’t be imposed for remarks made on two cable news networks.

Missouri judicial rules state a lawyer “shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter.” Another states a lawyer “shall not make a statement that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge…”

Southeastern Legal Foundation Attorney Kimberly Hermann is co-counsel for two Springfield Public School administrators who filed suit in 2021 against the school district. They contended their First Amendment rights were violated during a professional development session.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool made a summary judgment in favor of the school district in January. Hermann filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals in February.

Earlier this month, Judge Harpool ruled the plaintiffs must pay more than $300,000 in attorney’s fees to the district, The Center Square previously reported. Hermann then appeared on Newsmax on April 12 and Fox News on April 13 and made statements about the ruling, Judge Harpool’s order states. His document also cited a media release from the Southeastern Legal Foundation quoting Hermann as saying: “This is an effort by a lone agenda-driven federal judge…”

Judge Harpool gave Hermann a deadline of April 20 to respond to how her "statements fail to violate” both the Georgia and Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct. Online court records show an extension was granted to reply to the order.

Attorneys from outside Missouri must follow rules set by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri for cases heard regarding comments possibly prejudicing legal decisions.

Georgia rules state a lawyer “shall not make an extrajudicial statement that a person would reasonably believe to be disseminated by means of public communication if the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that it will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter.”

Judge Harpool’s order quoted Hermann as stating on Newsmax, “this is closing the courthouse doors” and “this will prevent every single person that has a potential First Amendment claim against the government … from ever being able to bring a lawsuit.” Plus, the order stated the Newsmax host inquired of Hermann, “The Eighth Circuit … How can we help? How can we get ahold of those guys?”

The order stated Herman said on Fox News that the ruling's outcome is "to chill speech” and she later stated, “the intent of it is to stop parents and teachers from ever bringing a lawsuit again.”

The order said links to the media segments were publicly shared on the Southeastern Legal Foundation website. The links and the media release appear to be removed from the website.

In 1991, the Missouri Supreme Court reprimanded former St. Louis County Prosecutor George “Buzz” Westfall for making remarks “with reckless disregard as to their truth or falsity” about an appeals court decision and judge.