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posted by Fnord666 on Monday June 10 2019, @07:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the pie-in-the-face dept.

Ohio bakery awarded $11 million in libel lawsuit against Oberlin College over alleged racial profiling

An Ohio jury has ordered Oberlin College to pay $11 million to a bakery which said it was libeled and wrongfully accused of racially profiling students.

The case stems from the November 2016 arrests of three black Oberlin students at Gibson's Bakery and market near the college's campus in Oberlin, Ohio. One student, Jonathan Aladin, was accused of attempted robbery for allegedly trying to "steal wine or otherwise illegally obtain wine" from the bakery, according to a defamation lawsuit. He would eventually confess in a written statement to buying alcohol illegally. Two other suspects, Cecelia Whettston and Endia J. Lawrence, were arrested and accused of misdemeanor assault, court documents state.

After that, Oberlin staff members tried to discredit the family-owned bakery, the lawsuit says. Oberlin College staff -- including deans and professors -- and students engaged in demonstrations in front of Gibson's Bakery following the arrests of the three students, the lawsuit stated. The suit also said Oberlin Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo and other college staff members "handed out hundreds of copies" of a flier to the community and the media stating that Gibson's Bakery and its owners racially profiled and discriminated against the three students.

A mass email sent by Oberlin College's Vice President and General Counsel to school alumni criticized the decision of the jury, despite the trial not being over. The email was sent ahead of a punitive damages hearing, which may triple the amount Oberlin College has to pay.

Also at Inside Higher Ed.

Update: Bakery suing Oberlin College for libel wins $33M in damages
Oberlin College hit with maximum PUNITIVE DAMAGES (capped at $22 million by law) in Gibson's Bakery case


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 10 2019, @11:18PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 10 2019, @11:18PM (#853964)

    So from what I read in the complaint, the Gibson Three went to the bakery (which apparently doubles as a convenience store) and one of them wanted to purchase booze with a fake ID. Common among white students. The clerk recognized the fake ID, and apparently the only act of violence here was a struggle between that guy and the clerk to get the fake ID back that the clerk was trying to confiscate. He was later restrained by an elderly owner of the bakery and handed over to the police.

    Police decided to charge him with a felony, common among black arrestees, for robbery, and his entourage got charged with misdemeanors. Backroom deals are made, and everyone agrees to downgrade the charges to theft, but a judge feels the bakery may be coerced to agree to the plea deal, and nixes it.

    The complaint then goes into the university's libel case against them, but what ended up happening to the original Three?

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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday June 11 2019, @12:38AM (2 children)

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Tuesday June 11 2019, @12:38AM (#853990) Journal

    but what ended up happening to the original Three?

    From the CNN article linked at the top of the summary (and which the summary is derived from):

    In August 2017, nine months after the three students were arrested, all three pleaded guilty to attempted theft and aggravated trespass.

    In a written statement, Aladin confessed to using a fake ID to try to buy alcohol when a shop clerk tried to detain him.
    "This unfortunate incident was triggered by an attempt to purchase alcohol," Aladin wrote, according to court documents. "I believe the employees of Gibson's actions were not racially motivated. They were merely trying to prevent an underage sale."

    So, in typical U.S. Court fashion, they were overcharged, and subsequently pled down to lesser charges.

    Amazing what you might find if you actually RTFA.

    (If you want more details: Other articles indicate that they were given no jail time, only community service and restitution. They also gave statements at that time saying the events were not racially motivated. Interestingly, some articles merely mention that fact -- implying it was strong evidence that the students didn't believe racism was involved, but other articles say they were required to make said statements as a condition of their plea deal. I don't have time to sort out what's true there... honestly I don't care that much. If you want to know, do your own research.)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @01:54AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @01:54AM (#854017)

      But the complaint said that a judge had invalidated the pleas.

      • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday June 11 2019, @01:06PM

        by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Tuesday June 11 2019, @01:06PM (#854180) Journal

        But the complaint said that a judge had invalidated the pleas.

        Seriously? Learn to read and comprehend. From page 4 of the complaint PDF linked in TFS:

        The Judge explained, in a December 14, 2016 Judgment Entry:

        The judge invalidated the pleas on December 14, 2016. Then on page 20 of the complaint:

        On August 11, 2017, Aladin, Lawrence and Whettston pled guilty to charges that the State of Ohio brought against them for their conduct at Gibson's Bakery.

        The complaint goes on to note the statements they submitted at that time (8 months later). Basically, it sounds like the judge invalidated the pleas the first time around because he felt that the publicity and Oberlin's position might be exerting undue influence on the bakery's willingness to accept the reduced charges. The judge felt if the bakery (and perhaps the prosecutors) didn't go along with supporting such a plea, they would potentially be subject to further retribution from the college and students (e.g., implying that the bakery was racist for pushing for overcharging).

        It sounds like they were later able to come to a plea agreement that satisfied the judge if those charged willingly signed statements saying they didn't believe the crime was racially motivated, thereby relieving some of the tension and absolving the bakery of the racial accusation.

        At least, that's what the complaint timeline seems to imply (as well as some news coverage). If so, it's important to recognize that the statements mentioned in TFA from those involved in the shoplifting incident about how the crimes weren't racially motivated were likely made under pressure -- if the students didn't make said statements, they likely could have gone to trial (one on felony charges). Not that that should have absolved Oberlin from its egregious behavior at all -- it's just not like the students freely offered a statement saying racial motivation didn't play a role as a neutral commentary on the case.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @01:27AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @01:27AM (#854009)

    https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-08/mohamed-noor-sentenced-for-murder-of-justine-damond-ruszczyk/11184162?pfmredir=sm [abc.net.au]

    A black male muslim convicted for killing a white female? Racism!!!

    'Outside court, a large group of Somali Americans protested the verdict, calling it an aberration of justice and an attack on Muslim immigrants. '

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @02:04AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @02:04AM (#854019)

      In a way, because even though by what little I know about this trial this guy should be going to prison, previous example in that fair city has shown that when the victim was black, the cop that executed him skated.

      It is an example of another aspect of American institutional racism. Only because his victim was upper middle class white female, the state prosecuted a real case against him, not one set up to fail.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @02:19AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @02:19AM (#854026)

    Looking at additional news reports about the case, apparently the trio had gone to the store, the Brother entered and the Sisters stayed outside. Brother pulls out his fake ID and when that doesn't work, he tries to steal two bottles of wine. Shopkeeper tries to film him, and Brother slaps his phone hand away. Brother then runs out, smashing the bottles in the process, followed by Shopkeeper. Once outside, shopkeeper tries to restrain Brother while the police are on their way, and Sisters come to Brother's aid and start assaulting Shopkeeper.

    Stereotypically black. Make a dumb attempt at stealing from their victim, then escalate to violence when it gets noticed. Robbery charges were absolutely justified.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @04:59AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @04:59AM (#854070)

      Stereotypically black.

      Oh no, you didn't!

      *snaps fingers while moving hand in a Z-shaped motion*

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @05:45AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @05:45AM (#854082)

      Not what happened! Fake Racist news! You need to cite a small town astroturf right-wing nutso website!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @05:11PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 11 2019, @05:11PM (#854267)

      "Make a dumb attempt at stealing from their victim, then escalate to violence when it gets noticed. Robbery charges were absolutely justified."

      Gee, I've never heard of any other ethnicity doing such things. What an insightful comment that is in no way racist! Yee haw maw, I found myself a real one!