Independent journalist cited for trespassing in Florida city hall

February 5, 2019
On Dec. 20, 2018, reporter and activist Andrew Sheets was cited for trespassing after filming inside the city hall building in Punta Gorda, Florida, in violation of a local ordinance.Sheets, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, is a self-described “copwatch reporter” who runs a YouTube channel focused on police misconduct and corruption.The local law that Sheets was accused of violating, Ordinance 1872-17, prohibits filming people without permission in certain areas of city-controlled buildings, including Punta Gorda City Hall …

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, …
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