Share to twitterA jury has decided that Oberlin College must pay more than $44 million in damages to Gibson's Bakery.The Ohio jury has spoken in the libel case against Oberlin and it has spoken loudly and ferociously. In addition to the more than $11 million in regular damages that Oberlin already has to payThis was a very angry jury.
Nonetheless, the verdict is a threat to freedom of speech and to the future of universities. Oberlin College’s connections to the libelous speech are too tenuous for this sort of verdict. Gibson’s legal complaint mentions a student senate resolution and makes much of the fact that the college allowed them to display it on college property.
All of this is a slim reed upon which to rest so ferocious a verdict. As noted in my previous post, there is a culture clash between the very liberal college and the more conservative town. I attended Oberlin College in the 1980s and was fortunate enough to have made a few friends in the town. They were good-natured but they often teased me about the low repute the students had among the “townies”.
This is a awful article I encourage others to seek out more accurate reports, including reports on the damage to the family, hell the oldest is now stuck in a neck brace for the rest of his life! The college acted in a shocking and frankly disturbing manner, big money bullies
As a lawyer from Ohio, so much of this article is wrong that it might as well be classified as fiction...
I feel like local coverage more careful and detailed than this take, right down to the exceptions to the caps on punitive damages under Ohio law. They provided coverage of testimony and depos. Absolutely atrocious strategy by counsel, prob at Oberlin’s behest.
Liberal professor disagrees with liberal colleges being punished for maliciously attacking an innocent group of people and trying to ruin their lives. Saved you a click.
Opinion article written by an Alumni of Oberlin College, no wonder the article is so against the verdict. The Jury and the court decided against the school due to the presented evidence. Punitive damages will likely be lowered to 22 million by the court for a total of 33 million.
You should be ashamed of publishing this rubbish. An Oberlin faculty-led boycott and defamation campaign based on proven lies destroyed their family business. Oberlin tried to blackmail then into dropping criminal charges and not reporting crimes in the future. Pure rubbish.