Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- April 29, 2019
- Legal Orders
-
-
subpoena
for
other testimony
- April 29, 2019: Pending
- May 10, 2019: Carried out
-
subpoena
for
other testimony
- Legal Order Target
- Journalist
- Legal Order Venue
- State
Subpoena/Legal Order
Jason Hawk, the editor of the Oberlin News Tribune, was subpoenaed on April 29, 2019, to testify at a civil defamation trial against Ohio’s Oberlin College for claims filed by a local bakery. According to court records, Hawk complied, appearing during the first day of testimony on May 10, 2019.
Hawk reported in November 2016 on protests outside of Gibson’s Bakery, which college administrators and students had accused of racial discrimination. The bakery filed its defamation suit against Oberlin College a year later.
The college previously subpoenaed Hawk in 2018, seeking the editor’s communications with the bakery and his observations at the protest. Hawk sat for an initial deposition on June 27, during which he refused to answer any questions concerning his sources. Dissatisfied, Oberlin sought to compel further testimony while attorneys representing Hawk filed a motion to quash the subpoena.
A county judge ruled on Aug. 22 that Oberlin could ask Hawk about what he witnessed but not about his sources or his communications with other News Tribune staff, and the editor sat for that videotaped deposition on Sept. 18.
According to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Hawk was called to testify again in April 2019 and appeared as a witness the following month.
The Chronicle reported that during his testimony Hawk described his experiences covering the 2016 protest, including that students shouted obscenities and spat at him, and that an Oberlin administrator attempted to block him from taking photos.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
