Oberlin College subpoenas legal blogger for communications with source

November 30, 2018
On June 7, 2018 attorneys for Oberlin College filed a subpoena in New York state, seeking communications between the blog Legal Insurrection and attorneys for Gibson’s Bakery in Oberlin, Ohio.Legal Insurrection has extensively covered a defamation lawsuit that Gibson’s Bakery filed against Oberlin College on November 7, 2017. The 8 count defamation suit seeks more than $200,000 in damages over accusations of racial profiling and discrimination which the bakery claims caused irreparable damage to their business. “Oberlin College’s theory behind …

New York Times reporter subpoenaed to testify in murder trial

July 6, 2018
In 2016, New York Times reporter Frances Robles was subpoenaed to testify in the murder trial of Conrado Juarez, whom Robles interviewed in jail in 2013. Robles fought the subpoenas, but the New York Court of Appeals — the highest court in the state — upheld the subpoenas on a technicality in a ruling on June 27, 2018. If Robles refuses to comply with the subpoena, she could be held in contempt of court and put in jail.In October 2013, …

Oberlin College subpoenas local newspaper editor in defamation suit

November 30, 2018
On May 30, 2018, attorneys for Oberlin College in Ohio subpoenaed local newspaper editor Jason Hawk to testify about his confidential sources.Hawk, the editor of the Oberlin News Tribune, had reported in November 2016 on protests outside of Gibson’s Bakery, a local bakery that Oberlin College administrators and students accused of racial discrimination. In November 2017, the bakery sued Oberlin College in state court for defamation.As part of the defamation suit, Oberlin’s attorneys subpoenaed Gibson’s Bakery for records of its …

Press-Enterprise reporters subpoenaed to testify in Pennsylvania murder trial

October 18, 2018
Kristin Baver and John-Erik Koslosky, reporters for the Press Enterprise newspaper in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, were subpoenaed in May 2018 to give testimony in the murder trial of Anthony “Rocco” Franklin. Centre County senior judge David Grine quashed both subpoenas on May 24, 2018.Franklin is currently on trial for the 2012 murder of his former son-in-law, Frank Spencer. He fled to Argentina but was arrested by Argentinian authorities, before being extradited to the United States on April 12, 2017. Baver and …

The Daily Item reporter Francis Scarcella subpoenaed to testify in Pennsylvania murder trial

October 18, 2018
Francis Scarcella — a reporter for The Daily Item newspaper in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania — was subpoenaed to testify in the murder trial of Anthony “Rocco” Franklin, in May 2018. A hearing on the subpoena was held on May 22, 2018, and a judge quashed the subpoena two days later.Franklin is currently on trial for the 2012 murder of his former son-in-law, Frank Spencer. He fled to Argentina but was arrested by Argentinian authorities, before being extradited to the United States …
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