By JR Robinson, CEO & Founder of JustMyMemphis

Prologue: A Scene at Carter Malone Group Headquarters

MEMPHIS, TN — Imagine walking into a political press conference held inside a prominent public relations firm in Midtown Memphis. The local TV cameras are lined up, tripods set, microphones hot. You walk in holding your media equipment, ready to cover a candidate seeking public office.

Then, the CEO of the PR firm marches across the room, points her finger directly in your face, and yells at the top of her lungs in front of every television crew in the city:

"Get the Hell Out! No, you didn't come in here. Get Out!"

That wasn't a scene from a Hollywood movie. That happened to me, JR Robinson, CEO and Founder of JustMyMemphis.

At the time, the public didn't understand why Deidre Malone, President and CEO of The Carter Malone Group (CMG), showed such intense hostility toward an independent community news outlet.

Now, newly unsealed Shelby County Circuit Court filings (Case No. CT-0453-25) reveal the full story. It wasn't about that candidate. It was about JustMyMemphis exposing the paper trail behind the ouster of Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins.

Act I: The $70,000 Ghost Contract

To understand why the establishment reacted so strongly, you have to follow the money.

On November 6, 2024, MSCS Board General Counsel Justin Bailey signed a public relations contract with The Carter Malone Group. The contract was intentionally capped at $70,000.

Under MSCS board policies, any contract of $75,000 or more must be brought to the floor for a public vote by the nine-member board. By capping the contract at $70,000, board leadership bypassed a public vote. Senior board members like Michelle McKissack testified under oath that rank-and-file members were never informed CMG had been brought in.

When JustMyMemphis obtained CMG's billing ledgers, the timeline revealed what was happening behind closed doors:

• December 7, 2024: CMG billed hours working on a board communications strategy where 80% of the work was focused on terminating Dr. Feagins—ten days before a public vote was announced.

• December 15, 2024: CMG wrote "Special Call Meeting Scripts" for Board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman and Vice Chair Stephanie Love.

• December 16, 2024: CMG filmed Chair Dorse-Coleman pre-recording an exit announcement video addressed to parents—a full day before any board vote took place.

When JustMyMemphis published these itemized entries, the narrative shifted from a routine policy disagreement to a pre-scripted operation.

Act II: The Cease-and-Desist Letter

On May 2, 2025, board attorney Robert L. J. Spence Jr. sent a formal legal notice to my attention:

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF DEFAMATORY CONDUCT AND DEMAND TO CEASE AND DESIST

 

The letter claimed that JustMyMemphis had published "libelous statements" on Facebook regarding The Carter Malone Group, specifically taking issue with posts characterizing the firm's involvement with board leadership as a "conspiracy" or "corruption".

The demand instructed JustMyMemphis to:

1. "Immediately remove the Defamatory Statements from Facebook and/or the Internet."

   [cite: 35]

2. "Immediately cease and desist from any future publication."

   [cite: 35]

3. Face legal action seeking "injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages."

   [cite: 35]

We did not remove the reporting[cite: 35]. Reporting on public invoices[cite: 24], school board spending[cite: 23], and sworn court testimony is standard First Amendment reporting[cite: 35].

Act III: The Secret Court Battle over Subpoenas

While legal notices were being sent to independent journalists, a parallel effort was underway in court to limit discovery.

When Dr. Feagins' legal team issued subpoenas demanding CMG hand over internal emails, draft resolutions, and text messages with board members[cite: 36, 37], Malone filed multiple formal objections[cite: 36, 37]:

1. Motions to Quash Subpoenas: Court records show Malone filed formal motions in October 2025 and June 2026 asking the judge to block 14 separate categories of document requests[cite: 37].

2. Claiming Discovery Was "Oppressive": In her June 2026 motion, Malone argued that searching her firm's internal servers, drafts, and text threads was "annoying, harassing, oppressive, and unduly burdensome."[cite: 37]

3. Demanding $350/Hour to Testify: Filings reveal Malone requested that if required to sit for a deposition, Dr. Feagins must pay her a $350/hour consultant fee to cover her lost work time[cite: 36, 37].

4. Requesting a Protective Order: Malone asked the court to seal her firm's communications under a protective order, claiming the materials contained confidential client information[cite: 37].

The Court Counter-PUNCH: "A De Facto Tenth Board Member"

In an unsealed response filed in August 2026, Dr. Feagins' attorney, Rachel Lambert, pushed back against Malone's motions to quash:

THE FILING (Page 8): "The evidence shows that Malone functioned as a de facto tenth Board member for months—participating in strategy, drafting the termination resolution, communicating with individual Board members, and developing termination messaging before the elected Board acted."

 

Lambert's filing cited deposition testimony from former Board Chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman confirming that Deidre Malone personally typed, formatted, and developed the wording for the official termination resolution before it was brought to the board for a vote.

Act IV: The Mainstream Media Blackout

While these unsealed court records were being filed in Circuit Court, local TV news stations remained mostly quiet on the details.

Why did local news outlets pass on these court filings?

Major TV stations rely on daily access to public officials, political candidates, and PR firms to run their broadcasts. Digging into itemized billing records, unsealed subpoenas, and protective orders can complicate those relationships.

When mainstream outlets stay on the surface, independent media exists to examine the court dockets.

The Public's Right to Know

This story isn't about personal rivalries or political feuds[cite: 35, 36]. It is about public transparency and how decisions are made in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, an enterprise managing over $1.8 billion in taxpayer money[cite: 36].

When public dollars are spent on PR strategies[cite: 23, 24], when termination resolutions are prepared before board votes[cite: 36], and when legal demands are sent to independent media outlets[cite: 35], the public deserves to see the full record[cite: 36].

JustMyMemphis will continue to report on every court filing, every subpoena, and every unsealed document as these cases move forward.