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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   34967 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 6, 2023

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I'm assuming that you could only come to this conclusion if you've read multiple defamation motions summary judgment in order to get a sense of what the landscape looks like.

Defamation, no. You see, almost no cases proceed to that in defamation because they get anti-SLAPPed out of court. But this does not look like a MSJ in any of the other types of cases I've seen or written.

This is true, it's generally very difficult to win a defamation case but then again few cases have the treasure trove of evidence that Dominion got a hold of.

Do you agree that Oberlin should not have been found liable for defamation based on the statement I highlighted? Like you mentioned, it's like "racism".

This is true, it's generally very difficult to win a defamation case but then again few cases have the treasure trove of evidence that Dominion got a hold of.

Correct, because they don't get discovery.

Do you agree that Oberlin should not have been found liable for defamation based on the statement I highlighted? Like you mentioned, it's like "racism"

Oberlin's defamatory statement was:

This is a RACIST establishment with a LONG ACCOUNT of RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION... A member of our community was assaulted by the owner of this establishment yesterday. A nineteen y/o young man was apprehended and choked by Allyn Gibson of Gibson’s Food Mart & Bakery. The young man, who was accompanied

by 2 friends was choked until the 2 forced Allyn to let go. After [t]he young man was free, Allyn chased him across College St. and into Tappan Square. There, Allyn tackled him and restrained him again until Oberlin police arrived. The 3 were racially profiled on the scene. They were arrested without being questioned, asked their names, or read their rights. 2 were released shortly after and charged with assault. The young man is being held in Lorain County Jail, charged with robbery. No bail until his arraignment this Friday 8:30 AM, 65 S Main.

A second statement was

A Black student was chased and assaulted at Gibson’s after being accused of stealing. Several other students, attempting to prevent the assaulted student from receiving further injury, were arrested and held by the Oberlin Police Department. In the midst of all this, Gibson’s employees were never detained and were given preferential treatment by police officers. Gibson’s has a history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment of students and residents alike

These are incredibly unlike just "saying racist" because they contain the specific allegation of assault. One contains a specific allegation of choking. The other contains a specific allegation of injury to the student.

You can even read the appeals court decision. https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/9/2022/2022-Ohio-1079.pdf Where they say:

This Court must emphasize, however, that Oberlin was granted summary judgment on the Gibsons’ claims based on the verbal protests by Oberlin students. The trial court agreed that the student chants and verbal protests about the Gibsons being racists were protected by the First Amendment and, therefore, were not actionable in this case. By the time of trial, the Gibsons’ libel claim focused solely on whether Oberlin had disseminated false, written statements of fact that caused the Gibsons significant harm.

So, as you can see. It took me about 5 minutes of investigation to show how silly the comparison to the Gibson's case this is. I even reviewed Oberlin's MSJ https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/content/office/general-counsel/current-issues/defendant_oberlin_colleges_motion_for_summary_judgment.pdf

It is, indeed, much different from the MSJ in the present case.

I agree that Oberlin's statements are even more damning in context, but as you saw in the court decision each claim was evaluated in isolation. The "long history" claim was found to be defamatory on its own (¶33), without including the specific allegation of assault (which was dealt with separately in ¶34, with the claim about the owner dealt with separately again in ¶35). Your argument that the comparison is unwarranted because Oberlin's statement contained specific allegations of assault/choking is demonstrably not true. Setting that disagreement aside, do you, personally, believe that Oberlin claiming the bakery had a "long account of racial profiling and discrimination" on its own should count as an actionable statement of fact for purposes of defamation? Yes or no?

It is, indeed, much different from the MSJ in the present case.

Certainly, and the circumstances are very different too. For one, that was the defendant's MSJ. Plaintiff MSJs for defamation are virtually unheard of, because defamation is so fact-dependent and MSJ require there to be virtually no disagreement on the facts.

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