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Gibson’s Bakery Attorneys at TPM address misleading statements made by Oberlin College OBERLIN, OHIO: An Ohio jury recently sent a clear message in the case of Gibson’s Bakery v. Oberlin College: The truth still matters. After an intense trial that lasted nearly six weeks, the 134-year-old family bakery was awarded $33.2 million in punitive damages in addition to $11 million in compensatory damages. But despite the jury’s verdicts against Oberlin College and its Vice President and Dean of Students on libel, tortious interference with business relationships and intentional infliction of emotional distress, officials at Oberlin College continue to propagate a...

Don’t say America wasn’t warned. During the oral arguments for same-sex marriage in 2015, a question came up about the fallout for Christian education. Asked if religious schools could be punished for holding a natural view of marriage, U.S. Solicitor Donald Verrilli was surprisingly honest. ” … [I]t’s certainly going to be an issue. I don’t deny that, Justice Alito. It is going to be an issue.” Four years later, that prophecy is coming to pass. Out in Maryland, a Christian charter school was told by state officials that it can’t participate in the voucher program anymore because of its...

. The Enumeration Clause permits Congress, and by extension the Secretary, to inquire about citizenship on the census questionnaire. That conclusion follows from Congress’s broad authority over the census, as informed by long and consistent historical practice that “has been open, widespread, and unchallenged since the early days of the Republic.” NLRB v. Noel Canning, 573 U. S. 513, 572 (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment). Pp. 11–13. BUT: . In order to permit meaningful judicial review, an agency must “‘disclose the basis’” of its action. Burlington Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States, 371 U. S. 156, 167–169. A court is...

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked, for now, the Trump administration's plan to include a question on the 2020 census that inquires about a person’s citizenship status.

NOVEMBER 15, 2016 trigger warning: this blog post specifically discusses acts of anti-black violence, overt white-supremacists, and unjust actions by police. Please take care when reading if you think these topics may affect you. This blog is a condensed source of writings I have been doing over the past week to process local and national events. The blocked quotes originally appeared in my journal and/or on my personal Facebook. On the evening of November 8, Donald Trump was elected president. On November 9, in response to an alleged shoplifting attempt, Allyn Gibson of Gibson's Bakery in Oberlin tackled, choked, and...

Justice Department sues former Trump advisor Omarosa Manigault Newman failing to file financial disclosure after White House firing The Justice Department on Tuesday sued former Trump senior WH advisor Omarosa for allegedly failing to file required financial disclosures after the notorious “The Apprentice” contestant left her job. The department claims Manigault Newman, a once-fierce defender of President Donald Trump, was told after she was fired in December 2017 that she had to file a financial disclosure form. In 2018, she released a book entitled “Unhinged,” which accused Trump of being a “racist.” The department, in its suit filed in federal...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday refused to put on hold a lawsuit by about 200 Democratic lawmakers accusing President Donald Trump of violating an anti-corruption provision of the U.S. Constitution with his private business dealings, a move that clears the way for them to seek some of his financial records. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected a request by Trump administration lawyers to halt the case and let them file an expedited appeal of key preliminary rulings he issued against the president. Sullivan said an immediate appeal would not be efficient. The lawsuit is one of two...

Actress Alyssa Milano has settled a legal battle with her former accountant as the case was on the verge of going to trial. Milano and her husband, agent David Bugliari, filed suit in 2017, alleging that accountant Kenneth Hellie had forged her signature on checks, failed to pay overdue bills and taxes and allowed costs to balloon on their home remodeling project. Hellie filed a countersuit, accusing Milano and Bugliari of ignoring repeated warnings to rein in the remodeling project and stop spending. The case was set to go to trial on Aug. 19 in the Van Nuys Superior Court....

The Second Amendment covers magazines holding more than 10 rounds, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez says, because they are commonly used for lawful purposes. On Friday evening, a federal judge in San Diego blocked enforcement of California's ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, deeming it inconsistent with the Second Amendment right to keep arms for self-defense. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez concluded that "California's law prohibiting acquisition and possession of magazines able to hold any more than 10 rounds places a severe restriction on the core right of self-defense of the home such that it amounts to...

Earlier this month, a jury awarded Gibson’s Bakery $11 million following a month-long trial stemming from the bakery’s lawsuit against Oberlin College and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo. Then, last Thursday, it added $33 million in punitive damages. This stunning decision — which strikes a serious blow against free speech on college campuses across the country — has garnered significant attention in major media outlets such as CNN and The New York Times, as well as on social media and various personal blogs. The tension between the College and Gibson’s began in November 2016, when three Black...

Marin transportation officials were cautiously optimistic Monday after a recent court ruling upheld a major funding source for several local highway projects, but the funding could be in limbo because of appeals. “We have tremendous congestion and these projects are congestion relievers,” said Dianne Steinhauser, executive director of the Transportation Authority of Marin. “We hear from the public constantly about how bad the congestion is right now. We’re hoping that this money starts flowing. It’d be great to see it by the end of 2019.” Regional Measure 3, the June 2018 ballot measure that increases tolls for seven Bay Area...

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled 5-4 to overturn a decades-old precedent on property rights, a decision that marks a victory for conservatives. The previous 1985 ruling found that an individual whose property is taken by a local government cannot file a federal suit under the Fifth Amendment until that challenge fails in state court. But on Friday the justices ruled along ideological lines to reverse that precedent, finding that the requirement “imposes an unjustifiable burden,” conflicts with other similar rulings and “must be overruled.” “A property owner has an actionable Fifth Amendment takings claim when the government takes his...

On Thursday, the Supreme Court in American Legion et. al. v. American Humanist Association, decided that the Bladensburg Peace Cross, which was erected nearly 100 years ago and has stood on public land in Maryland for roughly 50 years, does not violate the Establishment Clause. This decision should be celebrated, but the reasoning that the Court used does not entirely protect religious monuments or other displays in the future. Seven of the justices decided that the Cross does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. However, this was a plurality decision, which means there was not a majority...

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled 5-4 to overturn a decades-old precedent on property rights, a decision that marks a victory for conservatives. The previous 1985 ruling that found that an individual whose property is taken by a local government cannot file a federal suit under the Fifth Amendment until that challenge fails in state court. But on Friday the justices ruled along ideological lines to reverse that precedent, finding that the requirement “imposes an unjustifiable burden,” conflicts with other similar rulings and “must be overruled.” “A property owner has an actionable Fifth Amendment takings claim when the government takes...

Joe Biden's recently married son Hunter Biden has been named in a paternity lawsuit from an Arkansas woman who claims he is the father of her infant son, according to a report from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Lawyers for Lunden Alexis Roberts say they've thus far been unable to serve Hunter Biden with papers but have been in contact with his representatives. Roberts, who says she was in a relationship with Biden, is asking the court to establish that Hunter Biden is the child's biological father and order him to begin paying child support, according to the report. Lunden Alexis...

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the argument put forth by the National Police Association in the amicus brief it filed on behalf of the City of Ferguson, Missouri; former Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, and former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, supporting their motion to dismiss in the case of Johnson v. City of Ferguson, et al. The issue was whether the plaintiff, Dorian Johnson was seized at the time that Officer Wilson had only ordered him to get off the street, and whether the qualified immunity rule applied to Officer Wilson. The brief argued Plaintiff Johnson...

A conservative nonprofit has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Hillary Clinton campaign of violating election laws when it paid British citizen Christopher Steele to gather Kremlin-provided political dirt on candidate Donald Trump. Though not stated outright, the lawsuit argues that Democrats violated an admonition issued last week by Federal Election Commission Chairman Ellen L. Weintraub. She decreed that political campaigns cannot accept “anything of value” from foreign nationals. The lawsuit from The Coolidge Reagan Foundation says the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee accepted something of a value from a foreign national, Mr. Steele, in the form of Kremlin...

The dad of a Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim won a defamation lawsuit this week against conspiracy theorists who wrote a book claiming the 2012 shooting — in which 26 people, including 20 kids, lost their lives — never happened. The book, “Nobody Died at Sandy Hook,” was pulled as the publisher settled claims filed by Lenny Pozner, whose 6-year-old son, Noah, was killed in the shooting.

Update: Since this article was originally written, President Marvin Krislov and Dean of Students and Vice President Meredith Raimondo have issued an official response to Student Senate’s resolution ceasing all support for Gibson’s Bakery, financial and otherwise. The text of the response can be found here. Chants of “No justice, no peace” reverberated across campus from early morning into late last night as hundreds of protesters lined West College Street, calling for a boycott of Gibson’s Bakery. An altercation between Gibson’s employee Allyn Gibson and College sophomore Elijah Aladin Wednesday evening led to the Oberlin Police Department arresting Aladin and...

An atheist group has dropped its attempt to strip American pastors of their tax exemption for housing. The Freedom from Religion Foundation will not appeal an appeals court decision that said the federal government is allowed to exempt priests, pastors, rabbis, and other religious instructors from paying taxes on the housing they receive, ending an eight-year legal battle. The suit threatened to cost clergymen $1 billion if successful, but Chicago's Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the foundation argument that such a tax break violated the Constitution's establishment clause. The three judge panel, citing previous Supreme Court rulings, found that,...