I wanted to post on this news and just wanted something factual and journalistic, and I was disappointed that the 2 main newspapers I read just put up this rather thin AP story:
A jury in Lorain County awarded David Gibson, son Allyn Gibson and Gibson’s Bakery, of Oberlin, $33 million in punitive damages Thursday. That comes on top of an award a day earlier of $11 million in compensatory damages.
Problems between the Gibsons, their once-beloved bakery and the college began in November 2016 after Allyn Gibson, who is white, confronted a black Oberlin student who had shoplifted wine. Two other black students joined in and assaulted Gibson, police said.The extra space between "bakery" and the period is present at both the WaPo and the NYT. That's how little attention they paid to this story — not even rudimentary copy editing.
The day after the arrests, hundreds of students protested outside the bakery .
Members of Oberlin College’s student senate published a resolution saying Gibson’s had “a history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment.”A direct quote — "snowflakes" — for those "conservatives." Which conservatives? Who? Did they all say the word "snowflakes"? Were they all taking a derisive tone? This is a story about the seriousness of damage caused by free-swinging attacks, so you might want to rein it in. Notice the students were concerned about "systemic racism" and their tone isn't characterized nastily, but they were involved in causing harm that the jury soberly examined and found deserving of a $33 million punitive damages award. And conservatives are casually smeared, made to look like they get on social media and jeer and name-call.
When news of the protests spread online, bikers and counterprotesters soon converged on the town to jeer students and make purchases from Gibson’s. Conservatives derided the students on social media as coddled “snowflakes” with a mob mentality, while students attacked the store as a symbol of systemic racism....
The AP article ends with a grab-bag of factoids:
Oberlin has long been a bastion of liberalism. During the 1830s, it became one of the first colleges to admit blacks and women. During the 1850s, it became a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Today, about 15% of Oberlin’s 8,300 residents are black.And there's your NYT and WaPo coverage of this story. Thin, undigested AP material. And you won't find it on the home page. I had to do a search to find it.
More recently, news articles quoted students decrying the school dining hall’s sushi and Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches as cultural appropriation.
The Gibsons’ attorneys said the college, which charges $70,000 a year for tuition and room and board, has an $887 million endowment and can easily afford to pay the family what they are owed.
Oberlin’s tree-lined campus is roughly 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of downtown Cleveland.
IN THE COMMENTS: wendybar said:
The best coverage anywhere was from Professor William A. Jacobson @ Legal Insurrection!! The Main Stream Media is the propaganda arm of the Democrats so of course this doesn't fit the agenda.Here's the Legal Insurrection post about the punitive damages verdict. Excerpt:
“We never wanted any of this to go to court and have to spend all this time in litigation,” David Gibson said exclusively to the Legal Insurrection. David Gibson is the lead plaintiff in the case and is the principal owner of the business.Left Bank of the Charles said:
“People have no idea on how much stress this has had on our family and business for almost three years. But from the beginning, we just didn’t understand why they were punishing us for something we had nothing to do with.”
“We appreciate that the jury understood what we had gone through, and I think they were saying to the entire country that we can’t allow this to happen to hard-working, small business people whose lives are defined by their business, their family, and their community,” he said.” What the college was doing was trying to take away all those things from us, and we fought hard against that.”
Here’s some better reporting. The college seems to have thought that claims of poverty would work in its defense against the punitive damages.He links to "Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College: Plaintiffs rest in second day of punitive phase (UPDATED)" (Houston Chronicle):
With its endowment as it is now," [Oberlin President Carmen Twillie Ambar] said the college can survive, but “survival isn’t sustainability”.... Of that $1.4 billion, the college has an $887 million endowment — more than two-thirds of which can’t be spent by the college because of the wishes of the donors who provided it... The largest check the college could write if it had to would be for $49.1 million from its unrestricted endowment funds....
[Lee Plakas, the lead attorney for the Gibsons] told jurors that “defamatory words in our country have become weapons as damaging as guns that shoot bullets”... “More damaging than bullets once you’re defamed... There is no procedure to remove those words.”...
He recalled for jurors how Oberlin College administrators labeled the Gibsons and their supporters “idiots,” discussed in internal texts and emails how they wanted to “unleash the students” or “rain fire and brimstone” on Gibson’s and how Meredith Raimondo, the college’s vice president and dean of students, referred to the college’s business with Gibson’s as the “stupid bakery order.”...
“Let’s teach the institution not to put gas on the fires,” Plakas told the jury, also asking them to consider recommending Miraldi award the Gibsons money to cover attorney fees. “They’re not above the law. They can’t make up their own rules.”...
Posts
305 comments:
1 – 200 of 305 Newer› Newest»I didn't search either paper but I did just do a general news search for the story and it does seem like only conservative sites are covering it and it's being completely ignored by the other side. Can't really blame them. Repercussions are scary. It's not unusual for people to turn away from things that frighten them
Members of Oberlin College’s student senate published a resolution saying Gibson’s had “a history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment.”
Why wouldn't they invent whatever justification is necessary to support their outrage?
The media and university system discover that juries can be comprised of people who aren't part of the media or university system.
Hijinks ensue.
I am Laslo.
Progressives (like children) don't like to hear bad news. So hide the news.
Similarly, they swallow Mueller's comments on obstruction and avoid any criticism of Mueller's editing of the facts.
The best coverage anywhere was from Professor William A. Jacobson @ Legal Insurrection!! The Main Stream Media is the propaganda arm of the Democrats so of course this doesn't fit the agenda.
Oberlin has long been a bastion of liberalism. During the 1830s, it became one of the first colleges to admit blacks and women.
Not true - it was soberly politically neutral when I was there. A fair chance is a right-wing idea. Socially conservative.
From the previous thread. It didn't take long to prove how accurate this statement is.
Rick said...
Normal Americans dislike the left intensely (see the Oberlin verdict) but the media successfully obscures the left's true nature level of influence far too often. So too many people continue to believe this level of corruption can't exist because if it did surely it would be a huge story. They don't understand the media is a public relations operation rather than a news operation.
ATT has to be concerned about the exposure of its CNN sub in the Covington Catholic case. ATT will spin it off.
Oberlin's endowment becomes the Gibson Bakery endowment. Sweet (so to speak).
BTW, this was the first time I've read the perp shoplifted wine. Prior to reading this, I could not understand shoplifting from a bakery.
So far no mass emailing to alumni from Oberlin on the trial end.
The jury decided to take off and nuke them from orbit was the only way to be sure.
the Really surprising part of the this story is that Apparently, (some) MEN (cis men!!!) go to Oberlin
I'd thought that Only Lesbians went there?
The article states that Today, about 15% of Oberlin’s 8,300 residents are black.
I'D like to know, HOW MANY OF THE CIS MALES AT OBERLIN ARE BLACK? 100%?
I didn't know there were decent commenters at the WaPo.
I'm really not sure how counterprotests by bikers have anything to do with the case. The university is on record telling the Gibson family they were not allowed to call the police for student shoplifters if they wanted to continue to do business with them. Their Dean of students actually organized and encouraged the protests. They disregarded the truth in favor of the narrative.
Huh. Yeah, the WaPo should be worried.
And the university argued that a large judgement would cripple them, AP. Were they not telling the truth?
Oberlin did nothing that the Enemy of the People Media are not doing every time they get the chance. They practice "Our Slander Power Compels" without shame.
There has been very little news coverage of this. LI has been the only source to have more than just the most basic info.
I still think it wasn't a protest over shoplifters being arrested, it was because Trump had just won the election and the Hillary supporters, who had been assured of a win, needed to take their anger out on someone. Gibson's was the handy "someone".
The system works, yeah.
Universities have deep pockets.
Trial lawyers are largely politically aligned with the Left.
But the allure of all that money won't be ignored long.
Expect lots of these awards.
Expect states to either protect the state universities-or- to go the opposite way.
Personal liability would be a good first step, legislatively.
Personal bankruptcies would focus administrators' minds.
Underpants gnome version of this article:
1. Student shoplifts wine; protests and counterprotests ensue.
2. ???
3. Gibson's Bakery profits.
From the excerpts in this article, Oberlin looks like an innocent third party, while in fact the administration was actively egging the students on. That's why they are $44 million poorer today.
False claims of racism can destroy a business (e.g. Gipson bakery) or a sports team (e.g., Duke Lacrosse) or a reputation (see Covington kids).
In the modern era, that's how the Left rolls.
The Journolist is still fleshing out the narrative on this one.
I did some looking, (at Oberlin's website, and others);
and it seems that Oberlin has 5.9% Black/African-American, not 15%
(you DO (nearly )get to about 15% if you add in Hispanics 5.9% + 8.6%)
the Female/Male mix is reported to be about 57.5%/42.5% (or, 56.6%/43.4%)
NO mention of how many of those 'MEN' are biologically women (XX)
https://www.collegedata.com/en/college-profile/1778/?pdf=1&collegeProfileTab=overview
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/oberlin-college/student-life/diversity/#secMaleFemale
It will be interesting to see how Nick Sandman does with his lawsuits. There seems to have been an assumption on social media that you can say what you want about anyone with no fear of lawsuits. I'm pretty sure that's not what the law says. Sullivan says something close to this in the case of celebrities, but not people who are only famous, so to speak, because of a concerted attack on their reputation. Facebook etc. used to get away with saying they are just pipelines or pathways, with no one in charge; now it is clear they are editing to get the content they want. Why can't they be sued like newspapers and media organizations?
Sorry to disrupt the narrative, but this was in the Wapo 4 days ago:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/10/oberlin-college-gibsons-bakery-libel-million-racist/?utm_term=.97d71b73dfe8
There is lots of coverage of this but the one I found most interesting was an Oberlin paper that traced the history of this through opinion columns from the beginning showing the many sides of this issue which is sticky because the college did suspend the contract for pizza dough, but the college was not involved in producing the student flyers. Oberlin has been on the brink of closing down for a number of years and I doubt they have the resources to pay this suit.What ever happens this will be a loss for the community.
I expect individual jurors to be investigated for *checks notes* ...racism.
Newsroom Journo-Lister yells:
JoethePlumber that guy in particular.
I think you should console yourself with the knowledge that if the NYT had written the story it would have been deeply unsatisfying.
The news they decided wasn’t fit to print speaks volumes.
yes unknown; but that's Not what we're talking about. We're talking about Punitive damages
of 33 Million, Not the 'regular' damages of 11 million
No word in the Post about Punitive Damages
Democracy dies in darkness. Or so I’ve been told.
The verdict sounds reasonable but the award is... out there. I'll be interested to see what it gets reduced to on appeal or settlement.
roesch/voltaire said...
Some bull shit that protects his own interests.
The university worked hard to put itself in a bad way.
But people like r/v will stay willfully ignorant.
Shut up, they explained.
There is no stable, genius-inspired news source left. They are all propaganda. Conservatives bad! Progressives good! 24/7/365.
The lunacy even shows at WSJ/FoxNews.
There is so much policy that deserves a lively, even-handed debate. You can't find it anywhere.
My take on this: a Lorain County jury had a chance to whack the arrogant and ignorant administration of Oberlin College, and they took it. My advice to Oberlin: settle for some money and groveling apologies, and fire the people that took you to this bad place. That general counsel is obviously incompetent. So is that dean that doesn't know anything about what she herself did.
I have a clavichord, whose sound has been likened to listening to a box of pins dropping.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor!
Bezos is now worried that The Covington Catholic lad is going to get that $250 million from him.
Social Justice is expensive.
It was the behavior of Oberlin’s dean of students that put the college on the hook. The price of her social justice defamation is very high. They should fire her this morning.
Amadeus 48,
Remember, please, that Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS fame was a WSJ reporter.
The WSJ is not conservative.
It is establishment.
It is Chamber of Commerce.
"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
- H.L. Mencken
Why yes. Yes they do.
The verdict sounds reasonable but the award is... out there. I'll be interested to see what it gets reduced to on appeal or settlement.
The purpose of punitive damages is to hurt the offending party hard enough to deter them or anyone else from committing a similar offense. Go read the press release issued by the college in between the guilty verdict and the punitive damages hearing. Oberlin is still refusing to admit guilt and is still smearing the Gibson family and business.
"this will be a loss for the community."
Oberlin shit their nest good and hard on this one. Sometimes, just sometimes, actions have consequences.
Pah, it's just a jury award. They do lots of silly emo things.
Can't the judge set it aside?
but the college was not involved in producing the student flyers.
But they were4 involved in distributing them.
Oberlin has been on the brink of closing down for a number of years and I doubt they have the resources to pay this suit.
That's what I thought, but I have been told that they have an endowment of almost $900 million dollars.
What ever happens this will be a loss for the community.
Oberlin's destruction of a historic business is a loss for the community too.
One of my favorite Thurber bits was when the wife was describing a noise that she heard coming from the engine of the car, that the man could not hear: “It’s like pins rolling in a tumbler,” she said. But looking for the source, I see that there is tons of great Thurber stuff.
Here’s some better reporting. The college seems to have thought that claims of poverty would work in its defense against the punitive damages.
@Zrimsek
"The verdict sounds reasonable but the award is... out there. I'll be interested to see what it gets reduced to on appeal or settlement."
It is commensurate with the level of rage and disgust normal people feel at the off-the-charts maliciousness of America's modern over-educated scolds who masquerade as retards.
That said, yes it will likely get reduced on appeal.
the college was not involved in producing the student flyers.
No, just distributing them. You are clueless to the real story.
The jury hated Oberlin.
This is what happens when normal people encounter the poisonous college atmosphere.
The WaPoo and the other leftists who trashed the Covington boys should be very worried. Punitive on top of $250 million is a lot.
"I had to do a search to find it."
Oberlin is a small private college somewhere in suburban Ohio that serves less then 3,000 students. Meanwhile, there are 1 million people in Hong Kong protesting China's power. The second story, there should be coverage. The first story is of little interest to the general population, aside from those who who know others who have attended Oberlin.
There's an old but well known line in the military sciences.
"The enemy gets a vote"
These people really truly believe that the normals won't fight back. The largest, most reasonable, hardest working, best armed, and likely most pious segment of the nation will continue to throw up their hands and say "welp, lost another one!"
In their defense they've got some precedent over several intervening decades. To paraphrase AOC, "They're still trapped in here with us" though. We get a vote. They forgot. Scorched earth on infected institutions I say. Make their teeth squeal.
Oberlin is a small private college somewhere in suburban Ohio that serves less then 3,000 students.
Yes and Dr Gosnell was a "local story." The left has no idea of how it appears to normal people.
I read Laslo's 7:11 post in Walter Cronkite's voice (in my head, not aloud) and laughed out loud.
The media and university system discover that juries can be comprised of people who aren't part of the media or university system.
Hijinks ensue.
You know why you could hear a pin drop in the WaPo editorial room?
The Covington school plaintiffs have a Kentucky jury.
Oberlin has been on the brink of closing down for a number of years and I doubt they have the resources to pay this suit.What ever happens this will be a loss for the community.
When God closes a door , God opens a window. /s
Maybe the next incarnation of Oberlin will be more concentrated on Education instead of SJW curriculum.
I imagine the parents of those students who are attending Oberlin are a just an eensy bit miffed. The Alums are probably not going to pony up to save Oberlin. Why would they?
If there isn't much coverage it doesn't mean that it isn't loud.
If anything, more evidence of the irrelevance of the traditional media sources. You would be a fool to make a decision based on what you read in the NYT or see on CNN.
2020 will be characterised by one after another of these. There are deep pockets available for settlements of egregious acts.
Maoists vs. Trial Lawyers. And the Maoists are sitting on some very substantial piles of cash.
The judge still has to pass on the final award. But, in any event it will be mind-numbingly substantial, a message that even the pedantic left will find hard to ignore. And Oberlin soon will be looking for a new general counsel.
Mr. Plakas! Masterpiece Cakeshop in Denver is holding on line two! What the left finds offensive in bakeries is puzzling, but the Masterpiece Cakeshop just got sued for the third time (the first two whiffed) for allegedly discriminating on the basis of sex.
"The left has no idea of how it appears to normal people."
It's a local story. Remember, the majority of the US population did not graduate college; they aren't compelled by small college stupidity in rando Ohio small town. People have so many hours in their day to read the news. Many will see it as a "town vs. gown" and of little interest.
Unless you've heard of Oberlin or know, personally, people who attended, it would be of little interest. Oberlin has a good music program, but otherwise it's not a institution of national significance like Harvard, Yale, MIT, CalTech or even a big 10 University. Not a story compared to Hong Kong protesters, which should be getting more attention. It's private, not a public school, so less public interest and no public investment. Such a tiny little school, perhaps they didn't have the standard University lawyers employed full-time to give advice.
What is this thing you call “copy editing”?
That's what I thought, but I have been told that they have an endowment of almost $900 million dollars.
However, those endowments are often entailed (if that is the right term). They have restrictions on what or how they can be used. For example and endowment to a certain department or chair of a department. Endowment to build a certain building to be named for the donor.
Those funds can't just be robbed to be used for anything the institution wants. Some endowments are also set to be sent to another institution if the original purpose of the endowment is no longer there. Example: Endowment to fund the teaching of a nursing degree and the school stops teaching that subject. Money goes elsewhere.
BONDS to raise money???? The school can sell tax exempt bonds on the public market. I sold many of those types of individual bonds. Or can be bought to go into portfolios. Mutual funds for example. However, I doubt they can sell bonds because the risk of default is too high. Even with an extremely high coupon on the bond. Who wants to take that risk?
OBERLIN IS SCREWED
Oberlin is screwed.
“Problems between the Gibsons, their once-beloved bakery and the college began in November 2016 after Allyn Gibson, who is white, confronted a black Oberlin student who had shoplifted wine. Two other black students joined in and assaulted Gibson, police said.”
“Police said”?!?!? WTF
Those gutter-criminal “students” plead guilty. And received joke sentences.
It’s not a police allegation. They are confessed criminals.
Lena Dunham is a product of Oberlin, says it all. $55,000 a year plus board.
To lazy to correct my last post. However....Oberlin IS double screwed.
For a parallel story google Evergreen State College — a dish best served cold.
Did the racists that tried to use their racism to excuse their crimes of shoplifting and assault ever see justice?
Where they ever charged? Convicted? Anyone know?
Too bad the jury couldn't mandatory reeducation camps for the administration and student groups
Re: Laslo:
The media and university system discover that juries can be comprised of people who aren't part of the media or university system.
Well there's your problem right there! They need to reform the justice system so they're tried by a jury of their peers, the way lords used to be entitled to a trial in the House of Lords, or priests could claim benefit of clergy. There's more than a whiff of benefit of clergy about the college's alleged settlement proposal (how did that come out, by the way?) whereby they apparently wanted the bakery to agree never to call the police on their students, but instead report students' lawbreaking to the college directly.
Oberlin is a small private college somewhere in suburban Ohio that serves less then 3,000 students.
Oberlin is the tip of the iceberg.
Cat got your Google, Browndog?
The extra space between "bakery" and the period is present at both the WaPo and the NYT.
That is a great catch. Another reason why I come here.
It's a local story.
Translation: The story is about a terrible pattern of behavior from the Left that cannot be plausibly denied, so instead will be ignored.
Remember, the majority of the US population did not graduate college; they aren't compelled by small college stupidity in rando Ohio small town.
Seriously, there is absolutely no reason to look behind that curtain.
People have so many hours in their day to read the news. Many will see it as a "town vs. gown" and of little interest.
Hopefully the media will manage to bury this like they do most stories that show the Left in a negative light./s
Here's where I agree 100% with you folks. Higher education is neither and needs to be burned out and retooled
It's a canary in a coal mine
wwww insists that the reaction of the jurors to her preferred Leftist behavior is a non-story.
That's cute.
Many will see it as a "town vs. gown" and of little interest.
Americans will care more as they learn more. Oberlin is attacking the Gibsons but these tactics are not limited to campus. The radicals have also exported their insanity to other left dominated cultures like the media (Atlantic / Kevin Williamson) and Silicon Valley (Google / James Damore). So they join long-dominated institutions like government and NGOs where political reliability has superseded competence in employment considerations.
It's happening with Twitter and left wing radicals used Gamergate to push a "Safety Council" which enforces belief that criticisms of left wing radicalism are threats.
It's all moving according to plan which is why the left is so motivated to deflect criticism by claiming it should be a local story.
Browndog,
They pleaded guilty.
While I agree that the Hong Kong stuff is newsworthy (then again, it's another case of "leftists trying to destroy people's rights, news at 11!"), this is really newsworthy: a SJW place being forced to pony up to pay for their terrorizing innocent, ordinary people. While Howard clearly hates this idea, the rest of us are glad to see pushback and accountibility, of some sort, at last being forced on these leftist fascists who genuinely think they are aristocrats who can lord over us peasants.
The ability of the institution to generate a mob shouldn't be underestimated.
It's an old story:
St Scholastica Day riot, 1355
The seed of the riot was an altercation in the Swindlestock Tavern in Oxford (now the site of the Santander Bank building at Carfax, on the corner of St Aldate's and Queen Street) between two students of the University of Oxford, Walter Spryngeheuse and Roger de Chesterfield, and the taverner, John Croidon. They complained about the quality of drinks, which led to an exchange of rude words that ended with the students throwing their drinks in the taverner's face and assaulting him.[2] Retaliation for the incident led to armed clashes between locals and students.
The mayor of Oxford, John de Bereford, asked the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Humphrey de Cherlton, to arrest the two students, to no avail. Instead, 200 students supported Spryngeheuse and Chesterfield, allegedly assaulting the mayor and others.[2] As the situation escalated, locals from the surrounding countryside poured in, crying: "Havac! Havoc! Smyt fast, give gode knocks!"[3]
A riot broke out and lasted two days, which left 63 students and perhaps 30 locals dead.[2][4] The students were eventually routed.
Just replace "locals from the surrounding countryside" with "bikers and counter protesters" and you have the AP dispatch from the scene.
Re: Browndog:
Did the racists that tried to use their racism to excuse their crimes of shoplifting and assault ever see justice?
Where they ever charged? Convicted? Anyone know?
Apparently they all pled guilty to misdemeanor charges, as part of a plea deal that seems to have included their acknowledging that the bakery was not, in fact, racist:
Before the sentencing, Aladin, Lawrence and Whettstone each read statements acknowledging that Gibson was within his right to detain Aladin and that his actions were not racially motivated.
Amusingly, it seems like one of them tried unsuccessfully to weasel out at the last minute:
Though the two women read nearly identical statements, the lawyers representing Gibson’s sought clarification when one of the woman changed the wording – saying Gibson’s actions “may not” be racially motivated.
The lawyer representing the women, Jack Bradley, read the line of the statement for clarification: “I believe the employees of Gibson’s actions were not racially motivated. They were merely trying to prevent an underage sale.”
The women then agreed to that version of the statement and it was submitted to the judge.
The bit about "underage sale" seems to be the face-saving tatemae for the students, since the facts as reported elsewhere seem to be that it was outright shoplifting, not just an underage sale, that the bakery's employees were trying to prevent.
Oberlin has long been a bastion of liberalism. During the 1830s, it became one of the first colleges to admit blacks and women. During the 1850s, it became a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Today, about 15% of Oberlin’s 8,300 residents are black.
Per Wikipedia: enrollment of Oberlin College, 2853 in 2017; Population of Oberlin OH, 8300 in 2012.
AP writers unexpectedly(!) conflate town and college in the article.
The fact that this isn't a big story serves to further subvert trust in the media......I was raised as a Catholic and have every reason to be grateful to the Catholic Church for the education and values they gave me. That said, the Church utterly screwed up the allegations of sex abuse that were leveled against their clergy. There are any number of retired Catholic detectives and FBI agents with no animus against the Church who could have been enlisted to independently investigate these allegations. The Church bureaucrats instead opted to do their own police work, and the impression has been created that the Church cares more for protecting their reputation than for protecting choir boys. This impression doesn't help them in settling lawsuits....Thus so with the media. The way the media doesn't accept any culpability for the way they handled the Covington kids will not help them with the jury.
We learn more about the Democratic party press by what they refuse to cover.
This is a HUGE story. Huge big story. Leftwing media - crickets?
Why? The leftwing media is on the same side as Oberlin. Leftwing Liars who lie.
@ Unknown 8:42
LOL. Thanks for that story.
Just goes to prove the old adage. Nothing new under the sun.
Oberlin was doomed when the three shoplifters accepted a plea bargain that required them to state publicly that the incident did not involve any racism.
That statement prevented Oberlin from presenting any students or staff who would testify that they had experienced any racist treatment in the store. The judge did not allow any such testimony in the trial.
"Translation: The story is about a terrible pattern of behavior from the Left that cannot be plausibly denied, so instead will be ignored."
The majority of the "left" does not attend college and has never heard of this school. To think otherwise is to misunderstand the demographics and the political coalitions of your nation.
A very small sliver of upper-middle class people have heard of Oberlin. Those interested in sending their kids to a good musical education may have heard of it. Don't confuse that with the majority of the US population who has no interest in a small, private, expensive college, the name of which they've never heard before.
Don't confuse that with the majority of the US population who has no interest in a small, private, expensive college, the name of which they've never heard before.
But apparently they do have an interest in a small private Catholic high school in Kentucky.
Dear Members of the Oberlin Community,
By now many of you will have heard about the latest development in the Gibson’s Bakery lawsuit, a jury’s declaration of punitive damages against Oberlin. Let me be absolutely clear: This is not the final outcome. This is, in fact, just one step along the way of what may turn out to be a lengthy and complex legal process. I want to assure you that none of this will sway us from our core values. It will not distract, deter, or materially harm our educational mission, for today’s students or for generations to come.
We will take the time we need to thoughtfully consider the course that is in Oberlin’s best interests. I will update the community as we make these decisions. I am confident that when we resolve this matter, it will look substantially different than it looks today.
We are disappointed in the jury’s decisions and the fragmentary and sometimes distorted public discussion of this case. But we respect the integrity of the jury, and we value our relationship with the town and region that are our home. We will learn from this lawsuit as we build a stronger relationship with our neighbors.
This has been a remarkable year for the college and conservatory. There is unprecedented unity around an ambitious new vision for Oberlin. The work of fulfilling that vision is already underway. Long after this lawsuit has receded from memory, that work will shape Oberlin’s future. I appreciate the contributions so many of you have made, your perspective at this important time, and the commitment you have shown to what matters most for Oberlin.
Sincerely,
Carmen Twillie Ambar
President
(alumni mailing just received)
Like many universities, Oberlin enrolls too many students who cannot and will not read at the university level. Most such students fail academically, but the universities do not want to blame their own foolish enrollment practices.
Since most such students are enrolled because they are racial minorities, the universities blame their academic failures on racism. The non-reading students are too traumatized by the racism they encounter on campus -- building names, Halloween costumes, micro-aggressions, etc. -- to study effectively. Therefore, the universities engage in hysterical self-criticism of their own racism.
The mistake at Oberlin was to transport their hysterical racism accusations off campus and into the town's business district. They tried to bankrupt a small business, thinking that this effort would be as easy and inconsequential as changing a campus building's name.
Viral videos briefly attract media attention. There's no video from this story. It's a boutique town & gown story maybe of interest to parents who have musically-inclined children. That's a small slice of affluent, very well-educated people. Otherwise, they've never heard of this school, they're not gonna send their kids to this school, many don't live in the mid-west anyway, and it's not relevant to their lives.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong is a huge story with international implications. That's the lack of coverage I've been shocked at.
Ambar is a Columbia Law grad. She should know that it is tough to overturn a jury verdict. An appellate court doesn't retry the case. There has to be a prejudicial error; usually in the instructions or on admission of evidence.
Oberlin bungled this. Affirmed.
Among liberal arts schools, Oberlin is well-regarded, especially for its music program. It won't close down; Oberlin has ample resources. The verdict is really a warning to other liberal arts schools that are less well-heeled, e.g. Ripon, or Cornell (Iowa), or Beloit. Schools with more modest resources need to mind the gap where SJW shenanigans are concerned.
re: rhhardin (quoting the Oberlin president):
Let me be absolutely clear: This is not the final outcome. This is, in fact, just one step along the way of what may turn out to be a lengthy and complex legal process. I want to assure you that none of this will sway us from our core values.
What is that, social justice now, social justice tomorrow, social justice forever? Massive resistance!!?
Well, it's better than the one that came out from the GC before, I guess.
WWWW: yet you gleefully jumped on the "Covington Catholic Schoolboys are a grave threat to America and they must be destroyed!" bandwagon.
Why is Oberlin a story we should bury?
DEMOCRACY DIES IN DARKNESS!
Tobacco companies. Asbestos manufacturers. Drug companies. The Catholic Church. Easy targets. Next up: colleges and big media. Their defensive perimeter is stronger than some of the other targets, but it has been breached.
Dave Begely said LAmbar is a Columbia Law grad. She should know.......
Being a graduate doesn't mean you know anything.
AOC is a good example of this. Obama is another.
My impression from the alumni magazines (available online) is that everybody in charge is a crazy balls to the wall leftist. They're picking the wrong presidents to get back to the days of Oberlin's academic glory.
Haha, WAPO and NYT both facing $250 million lawsuits from slandered Catholic schoolboy Nick Sandmann. Shitting their pants, they are. Oberlin might be able to cough up $33 million no problem, but those Democrat party broadsheets won't survive. Hahaha... Get fucked, libs.
Oberlin College has been producing malicious goobers for a very long time now. Their alumni specialize in well-crafted, knee-jerk zingers. Some of them even go on to mislead television audiences.
And from a comment on Insty recently:
"These people blatantly fling their horse shit in our faces not realizing that underneath our calm demeanor we are planning how to kill every last one of them."
Mark said Oberlin is well-regarded, especially for its music program. It won't close down; Oberlin has ample resources.
No they don't. What resources do YOU think they have?
the Church utterly screwed up the allegations of sex abuse that were leveled against their clergy.
The seminaries were taken over by gays in the 1960s. The vast majority of accusations against priests after that concerned teenaged boys, not small children. There were a few real pedophiles but mostly this was gay recruitment of adolescent boys. Of course this is anathema to the gay activist leaders who deny gays are molesting boys.
A book telling the story,
"Members of Oberlin College’s student senate published a resolution saying Gibson’s had “a history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment.”
So one can attach a "history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment" to someone/something by simple resolution. Now that's 'democracy' in action. And I'm not surprised. a new-born white baby is already declared to have the sins of 'white institutional racism and supremacy'. And there is no baptism that can wash those sins away.
(*) Perhaps after this that eminent student senate could declare pi equal to 3.
Oberlin has been on the brink of closing down for a number of years
With an $887 million endowment, how is that possible?
I understand much of the money was donated for specific purposes and is "entailed". But if Oberlin is facing elimination, doesn't something like the cy-pres doctrine come into play. The donors wanted to fund specific things at Oberlin but that is not possible if there is no Oberlin. So you try to determine what the donors "would have wanted" if their first choice was no longer available.
If the college does close, something has to be done with those $887 million. I assume the same determination will have to be made.
33 million dollar jury awards are not news, said the Leftist Collectivist who knew the story would reflect poorly on Leftist Collectivists.
Surprised?
That's a small slice of affluent, very well-educated people.
I appreciate your efforts to bury this story as the other cases are wending their way to juries who will be just as angry at the SJW bullshit seen in this case.
Nice try but the worm may be turning. There are a lot of ordinary people out there who have encountered SJW BS at work or in other common activities. Hong Kong as thousands of miles away and that die was cast in 1997.
Nice try, though.
In the good old days, a university's Dean of Students had the job of disciplining students. If, for example, a student was charged for shoplifting and assault, he would be summoned for a talk with the Dean of Students.
Students making bogus racism accusations against a store might be summoned likewise for such a talk with the Dean of Students.
The Dean of Students would counsel such students to "shape up or ship out". Many Deans of Students had military experience. If such students persisted in their misbehavior, then they would be expelled.
Now, however, the Deans of Students coddle misbehaving students and even encourage and participate in the misbehavior.
Back to basics. The day Colleges became all atheist institutions is the day German trained Fascists took them over. There is no longer any Reality among post-modernist bullshitters. Everything is raw mob power.They first hated traditional WASP families, and now a Jury of those same deplorables has hated them back.
Reading about the life-ruining suffering that resulted from the policies of this institution, and the long-term damage done to the family and community of the master bakers: seems like lots of cons say this level of reparations fits this level of damage.
Makes ya think what may be due re other institutions re other (much greater) damage.
In my view, the main significance of the jury’s verdict is that is shows how normal people react when they are exposed to today’s campus leftism. You cannot sell to a normal person the idea that it is “racism” for a store to catch a student stealing a bottle of wine, and call the police, merely on account of the student’s skin color. Social justice warrior culture is insane, and is properly judged as such by normal people, who–luckily for them–tend not to encounter it often. The jury’s reaction to the demonization of Gibson’s bakery is, I think, a good indication of how most Americans will respond if, and when, they realize how depraved the Left has become."
P-line
Roger Sweeny 9:15
That is an interesting point. However from the IRS website it would appear that the use of funds donated to the College for their tax exempt purposes 501-c-3 could not be use for non tax exempt purposes.
The donors have already taken tax deductions based on their donations. The institution has been exempt for those donations. It would not be the same as a personal will or individual's intentions.
IRS PUB. Sort of relevant passage. (I'm not a lawyer, just a financial advisor)
Reg. 1.501(c)(3)-1(b)(4) provides that: Distribution of assets on dissolution. An organization is not organized exclusively for one or more exempt purposes unless its assets are dedicated to an exempt purpose. An organization's assets will be considered dedicated to an exempt purpose, for example, if, upon dissolution, such assets would, by reason of a provision in the organization's articles or by operation of law, be distributed for one or more exempt purposes, or to the Federal government, or to a State or local government, for a public purpose, or would be distributed by a court to another organization to be used in such manner as in the judgment of the court will best accomplish the general purposes for which the dissolved organization was organized. However, an organization does not meet the organizational test if its articles or the law of the State in which it was created provide that its assets would, upon dissolution, be distributed to its members or shareholders.
There is much more in the Pub. I would think that IF Oberlin uses the endowment funds that are entailed for the purposes of settling a lawsuit, which they brought upon themselves there will be some big tax consequences. Hell to pay...or the IRS (in which I repeat myself.)
Based on reading older articles, I’m seeing that the original lawsuit by Gibson’s asked for $200,000. Oberlin refused to settle and thought it would be dismissed. Seems like arrogance can be pricey.
$250 million WaPo.
I hope the kid wins.
MORE from the IRS and relevant to the cy press doctrine.
The cy pres doctrine is a principle of law that courts use to save a charitable trust from failing when a charitable objective is originally or later becomes impossible or impracticable to fulfill. In such a case, the court may substitute another charitable object which is believed to approach the original charitable purpose as closely as possible. (The term cy pres comes from French law and means "so near" or "as near (as possible".)) This legal doctrine is based on the theory that a court has the power to revise a charitable trust where the maker (also called the creator, settlor, or - in the case of a trust under a will - testator) had a charitable intent in order to meet unexpected emergencies or changes in conditions which threaten the trust's existence.
However, cy pres will not always be applied to save a charitable trust from failing where it is impossible to carry out the particular purposes of the testator. When it appears that the accomplishment of only a particular purpose was desired by the testator and that there was no general intent to benefit charity, the majority of courts will presume that the testator would prefer to have the whole trust fail if the particular purpose is or becomes impossible to accomplish.
This is all a big misunderstanding. The kid thought that the bottle of wine was part of his reparations.
"Makes ya think what may be due re other institutions re other (much greater) damage."
Those who are injured may sue those who do damage.
Dust Bunny Queen,
So are you saying that if a tornado destroyed half the Oberlin campus and they had to tap entailed funds to rebuild, that would be okay, because the loss was not their fault? But that they can't do the same thing "for the purposes of settling a lawsuit, which they brought upon themselves"?
(And at least so far, this is not a voluntary "settlement"; it is a verdict that they are forced to accept.)
Memories Pizza got $830,000 via Gofundme
Chick fil a jumped to #2 chain behind mcDonalds
Covington kids look to be getting some pretty big bucks.
How can I get someone with deep pockets to accuse me of racism, homophobia, mopery or whatever?
I could use the money.
John Henry
Roger.
There is a distinct difference between a Tornado blowing up the institution and the actions of the Administration blowing it up themselves.
One would be an Act of God. The other would be an act of purposeful stupidity.
Also....One is probably insured...the other isn't
Dust Bunny Queen,
As I recall, there was a Supreme Court case from back in the 1960s or '70s regarding a park in some southern town. It had been given to the city for the enjoyment of the white children and blacks were prohibited from using it. When that became illegal, the question became whether to keep the park going and open to all or to return the land. The Court went with keeping the park going.
I felt that the Court really strained to reach the conclusion that the donor would have been fine with black people using it if the alternative was closing it down.
I am curious how that errant period appeared in 2 newspapers?
Who wrote the story?
But we should trust the layers and layers of fact checkers and editors.
John Henry
Oberlin has been on the brink of closing down for a number of years
With an $887 million endowment, how is that possible?
Anyone see Bernie’s wife in Ohio?
Just one more REASON (not that I need it) to despise, detest, and distrust the NYT and the WaPoo.
wwww,
The reason this is interesting is because it is extremely important.
This could easily have been any of your top universities, all of which are dominated by the same culture and world view, that was the cause of this problem. Indeed, the effect of this is ubiquitous in your social-cultural system, except that it mostly goes more smoothly.
They all think like this, and the students they produce mostly think like this.
And going through these institutions is a filter for leadership in your society. There is nothing more important than the nature of your leadership. By this time the commanding heights of everything in the US are run by people very much like those Oberlin administrators, and the pipeline, for their replacements, is full of people like those Oberlin students.
The moments where the tables get turned, as with Oberlin, are very rare.
That is your principal national problem, and Oberlin illustrates it nicely. And it is the main reason I am pessimistic about the US.
Hong Kong matters much less, it is a small subset of the ongoing crisis with China. It has long since been economically sidelined by mainland China, and its remaining value as a sort of guarantee to foreign investors is far less relevant as China is no longer terribly interested in foreign investment.
Oberlin is the tip of the iceberg.
My stepson just finished his sophomore year at a small Midwest liberal arts college. It is a highly regimented Marxist place. He keeps his mouth shut to stay out of trouble.
He believes that the campus activists are truly insane.
There is a distinct difference between a Tornado blowing up the institution and the actions of the Administration blowing it up themselves.
Agreed. The question is whether that makes a difference for purposes of cy pres. That was what I was trying to get at with the tornado example. To avoid the insurance complication, change my hypothetical to anything big the college has to pay for that's not their fault and not covered by insurance.
The award confirms that the Oberlin's counsel was smart to try a change of venue to Berkeley. I think the Legal Insurrection commenter said it best that the jury was trying to find a verdict that said "we hate both the school and the students".
And what is the final amount?
Until this morning I was reading $33mm triple the original amount.
Now I see $44mm triple plus the original amount.
Which is correct?
John Henry
Legal Insurrection has a reporter in the court room everyday, and has had the best coverage by far.
It’s an exciting example of real investigative reporting, and it’s just the start of their efforts.
Amazon also terminated their affiliate program with Legal Insurrection, so they are relying on donations for funding.
Legal Insurrection has had excellent coverage of the bds movement and Elizabeth Warren.
The tax laws need to be changed. There's no reason people should be getting tax deductions for giving to a College with an Endowment of $800 million! Further, college endowments over $1 Billion should be required to pay property and capital gains taxes like everyone else.
There is a real problem with focus on incidents and not on systems.
We all like a story, like the Covington boys and such, but these are cases where someone manages, through great splashing, to swim against the tide.
But what matters is the tide.
What is needed is institutional destruction and replacement. But that is a matter of national grand-strategy that seems disproportionate if one sees only incidents. It takes a vision of the tide to make that case.
"Amazon also terminated their affiliate program with Legal Insurrection, so they are relying on donations for funding."
Incredible. So only left wingers can make money with Amazon. Bezos the Commie billionaire.
"Those who are injured may sue those who do damage."
Those who do damage: Obviously institutions are responsible for stuff they officially implement/do, e.g. WaPo and lib colleges.
Those who are injured: If you murder someone, their family can sue you, they don't need to resurrect the dead person so that the damaged person can sue you.
It is not moral to get in such a huff re the suffering of these master bakers such that it's good to give them many tens of millions, but then also say that exponentially more terrible victimization is no biggie. There's no reason to say it's impossible to go back and fix this big damage. We are a representative gov, you can vote for folks who will vote for a fix. So legal limits are not a problem, for a steadfastly moral person. Of course many (most?) of y'all are not sincere re fussing re the suffering of these master bakers re some sorta consistent morality re right/wrong re redress.
IMHO.
The campus activists are irrelevant.
The important parts are the professors and administrators.
Especially the professors and administrators at the top of the US university system, at the leading universities.
These are hierarchies, and leadership matters more than anything.
Colleges should face caps on federal student aid and student loans. The taxpayers have been funding directly and indirectly their Left-wing games and extravagances. How much $$ does Oblerlin get every years in student aid and guaranteed student loans?
...In early 2018, according to Plakas, two days of talks with a mediator were done, but nothing close to a settlement was achieved. In fact, the talks were initiated by the Gibson’s and “We were ready, willing and able to not have this case go to trial, but Oberlin College and their insurance company seemed to have no interest in settling this case,” Plakas said.....
Their insurance company. Lololol. I’m summing it wasn’t just in WaPo you could hear a pin drop.
...The damage was worse than most realize. On a walk through campus several weekends ago, this reporter talked to about 20 students at random on campus, and every one of them said they would never shop at Gibson’s because the business and family are racist. When shown the police reports and the fact that the three shoplifters plead guilty and claimed “no racial profiling” was involved, most of the students I spoke with said, “Cops lie....”
As for Meredith Raimondo, she was brought to the stand for a short period in what seemed like an excuse for the plaintiffs to show the jury more emails and texts she was privy to or that originated with her. The punitive stage demands the jury find “malice,” in their deliberations, and these emails and texts tended to prove some of that.
SHE’s the one not being mentioned. She “helped” with the protests.
PB&J is disingenuous. The problem here is just one tiny sample, an illustration, of the depth of the rot in your systems. The plaintiffs lawyer made just that point in his summation.
Roger.
Again. I am not a lawyer.
However, in your park instance and trying to make it the same as the Oberlin instance there are some significant differences.
I would want to see if the original intent of the donation was really restricted to only white children or if that was the result of the laws in effect at the time (Jim Crow and all that). Did the donor state that entailment? (I want to give this money for a park and only white children can play there? or here is some money for a park for children?)
If the park was given and it was legal to restrict blacks from attending the park when the gift was given then the intent was to give a park.... period. If it was restricted and later it became illegal to restrict Blacks there would be no other cy-pres available. You can't fund another park that restricts. PLUS there is the IRS issue of tax deductions over the years. Perhaps this was the major factor in keeping the park open to all.
However, in Oberlin's case is was and still is illegal to purposely defame people and cause damage.
The actions of Oberlin Administration had nothing whatsoever to do with their Charitable Purpose and were under their own control. Not a tornado. Not a change in the laws. They blew up their own institution...and seem to be trying to continue to do so.
The donors didn't give money to the charity to cover legal expenses or lawsuits brought upon themselves by the institution. The IRS didn't give tax exemptions for that purpose either.
(Edited for clarity)
r/V: There is lots of coverage of this but the one I found most interesting was an Oberlin paper...
...that did a satisfactory job (by r/V's lights) of deflection and obfuscation of the real issues.
What ever happens this will be a loss for the community.
Indeed. A reduction in ignorant assholes' ability to destroy people's businesses and livelihoods for a social-justice dopamine hit would be a great loss to any community in America. Let's hope this won't have a chilling effect on ignorant vicious little shits and their academic enablers elsewhere in America.
The "enencumbered" $49.1 million is some of the dividends on the rest of the $887 million Oberlin endowment. These dividends are able to be spent or reinvested at the complete discretion of the Oberlin Board of Trustees (or Regents, or whoever is in charge over there).
In other words, paying the entire $44.1 million in damages plus legal fees for the Gibsons immediately by writing a check today would simply set Oberlin back one year in growth of its endowment.
Here's hoping the judge requires full payment before any appeals can be filed.
@rcocean Large endowments like those at Harvard, Yale, etc. are now being taxed. This article from the WSJ tells who will be taxed.
And what is the final amount?
The original award was $11 million in compensatory damages. The jury awarded $33 million in punitive damages, which would total $44 million. However, state law limits punitive damages, so those will be reduced to $22 million, and the final award will be $33 million.
Meredith Raimondo as rated by her students at Rate My Prof. Selected Quotes:
Gush
one of the most amazing educators I've ever met. She's engaging, thought provoking, and highly quotable.
////
The most brilliant professor ever
///
Super insightful teacher, it might just knock your socks off.
Realism
Her classes are very reading intensive and she is lots of times hard to follow in lectures probably mainly due to the fact she talks really fast.
///
"Her essay assignments ask you to use your own voice, which is awesome"
Mommy Darling
"The class material sometimes felt tiresome or nitpicky (or just like academic nonsense)... I wish she was my mom."
///
"She will become like a second mother! ... She didn't give back any papers...however this may have been an exceptionally busy semester for her."
Hmmm.
"absolutely enraptured ... the woman is brilliant. and gorgeous"
"I think I love her"
Does this sound like the study of American History by intelligent people?
Professora laments - (ALL [FIFY]) I wanted to post on this news and just wanted something factual and journalistic.
"factual and journalistic" - soon to be? or already? an example of OXYMORON in the OED
Meredith Raimondo was present at the demonstrations outside Gibson's Bakery and her actions in assisting at the demo, as evaluated by the jury, were one of the reasons why Oberlin was charged rather than just the students.
Oberlin should close down.
Charlie Eklund said... Democracy dies in darkness. Or so I’ve been told.
So WaPo asks (non-rhetoric) - Where is the light switch / Who turned on the light
"Restricted gifts" which make up a large majority of Oberlin's endowment are the bane of all university administrators. The intention when gifted was to help a certain segment needy at that time, family or descendants or members of an organization. Over time families have died out, descendants have been lost or organizations have ceased to be. This leaves administrators with bucks they can't use or they have to go to court to have the restrictions lifted. In Oberlin's case, for whatever reason, their endowment is largely made up of restricted gifts giving them very little free cash to pay their well-deserved fine. The liability insurance company so far says that they don't need to pay for this incident. That leaves Oberlin with a very thin operating margin from endowment. If they raise tuition there is a good chance they will significantly reduce their student population and as some have pointed out very few alumni want to give to a school to pay legal costs. Oberlin is indeed between a rock and a hard place.
Bakery/courts rightly force 0berlin "to bake the cake" so to speak.
More on the American Studies department at Oberlin from a student perspective (Rate My Prof.)
Evangeline Heiliger
Professor Vange is one of the rare professors who actually makes an active effort to make Professor Vange's classes more accessible. The content was really interesting and informative (although beware the readings that are emotionally difficult).
Afia Ofori-Mensa
A curious professor. If you were very proactive, attentive, and respectful, she could really whip your writing and discussion skills into shape.
Wendy Kozol
She manages to take fascinating subjects and turn them into grating lectures.
//
Meh... pretty doctrinaire and institutionalized. The content is worthwhile but feels super formulaic--- she will drill certain words into your head for sure but one wonders if she can speak outside of her sort of precious academic discursive niche. Factory-made or something.
///
She likes people who make really out there points, though, even if they're nonsensical
Of course many (most?) of y'all are not sincere re fussing re the suffering of these master bakers re some sorta consistent morality re right/wrong re redress.
The rationalizing starts. The left, and you are a good example, will says the mean old bakers tormented poor little Oberlin college.
Those ferocious Covington bullies are going to torment poor CNN and the innocent WaPoo.
Somebody posted a good response above,
"These people blatantly fling their horse shit in our faces not realizing that underneath our calm demeanor we are planning how to kill every last one of them."
Deal with that , lefty,
Oberlin can try to float some Bond offerings to raise the money to cover their judgement. However, they have been downgraded by Moody's to a low investment grade bond. Still investment. Not junk.....yet.
It is going to be difficult now under this new court case to raise money in a taxable or non taxable bond issue.
@Gahrie, minor correction. The compensatory damages were $11.2 million so the punative damages will be reduces to $22.4 million for a total of $33.6 million. I don't know where you live, but $600,000 would go a long way out here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, as I am sure it will in Ohio. Gibson's will have to pay tax, but attorney fees will not come out the award -- I don't know how high the judge will set the attorney fees, but that will be another six or seven figures.
Birkel: wwww insists that the reaction of the jurors to her preferred Leftist behavior is a non-story.
Nah. To see 4dub as a lefty concern troll is to misread her. Think Thurber character: the middle-aged "informed" committee-woman or book-club bulldozer who babbles on from a deep confidence in her own expertise on any given sociological topic, while the rest of the company maintains lowered gazes and tight smiles.
Thurber, or New Yorker cartoons of a certain vintage.
Dust Bunny Queen,
Talk about the fallibility of memory! I had the case backwards. It's Evans v. Abney, 396 U.S. 435 (January 26, 1970). It was a 7-2 decision, with dissents by Douglas and Brennan. When the park could not be limited to whites, the land reverted to the donor's heirs because the donor really, really didn't want integration.
Justice Black, speaking for the majority: "...the 1911 will of United States Senator A. O. Bacon of Georgia which conveyed property in trust to Senator Bacon's home city of Macon for the creation of a public park for the exclusive use of the white people of that city. ...
In this case, Senator Bacon provided an unusual amount of information in his will from which the Georgia courts could determine the limits of his charitable purpose. Immediately after specifying that the park should be for
the sole, perpetual and unending, use, benefit and enjoyment of the white women, white girls, white boys and white children of the City of Macon,
the Senator stated that
the said property under no circumstances . . . (is) to be . . . at any time for any reason [p442] devoted to any other purpose or use excepting so far as herein specifically authorized.
And the Senator continued:
I take occasion to say that, in limiting the use and enjoyment of this property perpetually to white people, I am not influenced by any unkindness of feeling or want of consideration for the Negroes, or colored people. On the contrary I have for them the kindest feeling, and for many of them esteem and regard, while for some of them I have sincere personal affection.
I am, however, without hesitation in the opinion that, in their social relations, the two races. . . should be forever separate, and that they should not have pleasure or recreation grounds to be used or enjoyed together and in common."
Gibson's will have to pay tax,
Yes. They should get a good tax attorney and a financial advisor :-)
Perhaps they can set up several charitable trusts, make some tax deductible gifts and/or fund a foundation to minimize the tax hit. That would be poetic justice.
Shouldn’t Becky Beckyson be opening a wine shop in Oberlin where stealing under $750 is legal? He must be SO upset at that unjust arrest and outrageous verdict.
Thank you Roger! Very interesting and supports the IRS reasoning that the donor might rather see the charity fail than have the donation used for other purposes.
(In case y'all are wondering why I have so much time to blather on here....I broke my foot and have to stay off of it for several days. Time on my hands and off of my feet)
He links to "Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College: Plaintiffs rest in second day of punitive phase (UPDATED)" (Houston Chronicle)
No,no,no. The link is not to the website of the Houston Chronicle, but to the website of the Chronicle-Telegram, which is located in Elyria,Ohio.
You'd think that Oberlin might be a tad upset over this person.
MEREDITH RAIMONDO
This is the woman who agitated and conspired with the grand lie against a family run business.
Be a shame if her life was destroyed.
These people blatantly fling their horse shit in our faces
It's all fun and games until you have to grow up.
DBJ: (In case y'all are wondering why I have so much time to blather on here....I broke my foot and have to stay off of it for several days. Time on my hands and off of my feet)
Hope you heal quickly, but enjoying your "blathering".
Note the lefwing Maddow commenters are as Silent as WaPo.
Try searching for Gibson bakery in google
They are getting cute - I get suggest for Gilbens Bakery and Specialty Sandwhich Shop
One way that Oberlin can economize is to reduce administrative costs by firing all these "diversity" positions and just concentrate on their function of education.
(Thank you Angle-Dyne. I'll be fine to walk around in a few days.)
Meredith Raimondo is steeped in radical leftism and hatred of Jews and Israel too. *shocked face*
The Oberlin Dean of inclusion and diversity, Meredith Raimondo, collaborated with students to harass a local business out of business. All for reporting a shoplifting crime.
Who knew that harassment was part of her job description?
Blogger rhhardin said...
“Oberlin has long been a bastion of liberalism. During the 1830s, it became one of the first colleges to admit blacks and women.”
“Not true - it was soberly politically neutral when I was there. A fair chance is a right-wing idea. Socially conservative.”
Very much depends on your time scale.
My great great grandparents left Oberlin in the 1850s to help found a Christian college in the wilds of NW (LP) MI. My GG grandmother left us with voluminous correspondence between her and her sisters left behind in Oberlin. And much of it revolved around their passions: emancipation, suffrage, and temperance. All from what we would probably call fundamentalist Christian point of view today. That was probably the closest thing to progressivism around at that point in this country.
For any Civil War buffs here, that GG grandfather went back to Oberlin to enlist, along with other men who had left there with him for MI. And decades later was one of the GAR vets who helped motivate Civil War historian Bruce Catton to research and write about that war (mentioned in Catton’s autobiographical “Waiting for the Morning Train”). The Cattons had also moved up to MI to help found that Christian college.
"I was disappointed that the 2 main newspapers I read just put up this rather thin AP story"
After all this time, knowing full well that the MSM are spouting prog propaganda, thinking of herself as a sophisticated consumer of MSM narratives, Althouse is "disappointed." I invite you to think deeply about that.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to more higher ed SJWs, Dem congresspeople, BLM activists, and assorted progs being held accountable for libelous racial smears.
Gibson's will have to pay tax,
Am I correct that punitive damages are nontaxable ? It seems to ring a bell.
The left are sliding into a totalitarian abyss.
NOTE: Althouse's post, not her quotes, are largely about the news coverage, and lack of it, on this story.
She wanted to go to Middlebury college. She's been in academia for most of her life. She's a legal scholar. I get why she's interested in this story.
My post are mostly comments on Althouse's reading of the situation. I get why Althouse has forgotten that her interests in this story are not going to match the great majority of the rest of the population. She considered attending this category of school. Most people have never heard of Oberlin, or Middlebury. They'd never be able to afford to send their child to these colleges, even if they had heard of them. Most people are not legal scholars nor lawyers. This is a private college, it's not a big 10 public University, so there's little public interest. It's not even a public community college that uses tax dollars to serve the public.
The commenters on this blog are not representative of the general public. If you've heard of the school, you are not typical. It's not Harvard.
Why the rest of you think it's obvious this story should get massive news coverage, is beyond me. Next think you know, you will think Blue Mountain private college in rando place should be the story of international news because of stupid administrators, idiot students and some local business dispute.
& RE the personal insults: Get a grip. Those back and forths personal name-calling clutter the thread. Nobody wants to read it.
Collaborated or colluded?
Blogger Big Mike said...
“@Gahrie, minor correction. The compensatory damages were $11.2 million so the punative damages will be reduces to $22.4 million for a total of $33.6 million. I don't know where you live, but $600,000 would go a long way out here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, as I am sure it will in Ohio. Gibson's will have to pay tax, but attorney fees will not come out the award -- I don't know how high the judge will set the attorney fees, but that will be another six or seven figures.”
My memory of tax law is that the original $11.2 million, along, probably, with the attorneys’ fees, is likely tax free, since it is compensatory. Punitive damages though are typically taxable. (Someone better versed with tax law should probably chime in here).
The judge apparently doesn’t absolutely have to cut the punitive damages back to twice the compensatory damages. There is some wiggle room, but apparently not a lot. Given the magnitude, I don’t expect the judge to risk reversal over that. I don’t expect him to put any of the rest of the judgement aside, nor for it to be reversed on appeal. According to LI, he seemed very careful in his rulings during trial making sure that he didn’t give the college any grounds for reversal. And, he is likely mostly elected by the townies, and not Oberlin’s faculty and student, so could likely expect to be voted out of office if he doesn’t confirm the judgement.
When I went to college you spent three years acquiring solid knowledge and in the fourth year, you were introduced to the wildlands of ideas. This introduction to free-range thoughts now happens in to students in their first year and I would think college would thereby become very restrictive and boring. Because the next four years you go over and over those same ideas so that by fourth year they are understood as a required dogma to which you are restricted as if you were a theology student in 1710 at Oxford. You realize that your college education has been rote learning of a dogma which you are required to call "creative", out-of-the box thinking." If you were a true lover of literature or history, you might sneak off to certain sites on the Internet except you know the NSA would record the venture and might report you to Meredith Raimondo. But if you went to a second-hand bookstore in Cleveland and paid cash, you could get the Iliad and Shakespeare and Churchill without anyone at Oberlin knowing. But, still, overall, you know you were bored, restricted and not free - the opposite of the advertising - for $55,000 a year.
wwww says: Why the rest of you think it's obvious this story should get massive news coverage, is beyond me
True. Oberlin College is a small, and until now, relatively unknown institution.
However, the reason it is big news is not due to the size or obscurity of the college but because it is the epitome, the representation, the illustration of the growing problem of elite colleges and "snowflake" SJW students presuming that they can bully and destroy people who don't agree with their agenda.
The Oberlin story is an object lesson, that the left will still refuse to learn.
It is like a David and Goliath story. Goliath, the wealthy college stomping all over the rights of the small town. The small town bakery being attacked by NOT just the students, but also by the backing of the college itself.
David, finally decided to fight back. AND WON.
The example of the Covington school boys will be another instance where the elites find out that the previously compliant silent Americans will be fighting back.
It isn't Oberlin that is the story. It is the rise of the resistance to the self appointed elitist, leftist and their fascist anti-fa students.
“Am I correct that punitive damages are nontaxable ? It seems to ring a bell.”
Probably need someone more expert to resolve this. My memory is that compensatory damages are non taxable because they really aren’t income, but rather just putting the plaintiff(s) back in the position they would have been before the tort (or breach of contract). Punitive damages, on the other hand are a bonus, awarded prevailing plaintiffs in order to further a societal purpose of discouraging the underlying behavior for which compensatory damages were awarded.
To be fair, the Washington Post published a lengthy piece June 10 on the initial award verdict.
It was pretty thorough and fair.
Typical Left-wing responses to anything showing Lefties in a bad light:
1) Deny it happened
2) Say it doesn't matter and no one cares.
3) Say "So what? Everyone does it"
4) Change subject.
5) Call it "Boring" say we need to "Move on".
Response from Left never seen: "Yes, those Leftists did wrong, and they need to change their ways and be punished and/or apologize".
“Am I correct that punitive damages are nontaxable ? It seems to ring a bell.”
The thing the tax code is there is zero logic to it. There are exceptions to every principle and loopholes with loopholes. Its jerry-rigged nightmare put together by bribed Congressmen and out-of-control Judges.
Why do we care?
Because we need to be able to get along.
And one of those ways is big payouts. In parenthood parlance, getting the child’s attention.
It’s takes a village, don’tcha know.
Oberlin found out there’s a bigger world out there.
It’s a common human fault to miss the forest for the trees.
Lawyers however tend to miss the forest for the leaves.
The jury did a scorched Earth raid on Oberlin. That probably sent shivers down the spines of every leftist outfit facing libel suits today.
And verdict and damages were appropriate in this case. Next up- the Covington case.
"It isn't Oberlin that is the story. It is the rise of the resistance to the self appointed elitist, leftist and their fascist anti-fa students."
There is stupid stuff going on at Oberlin. The cultural appropriation of sushi. Yikes! Enough said about that nonsense. Take it into account when your kids are old enough to consider schools. That said, 18-21 year olds are often stupid. It's the administrative encouragement of stupidity that is the problem. The 75K per year price tag doesn't help. More money = more coddling of student stupidity. Under 3,000 students attend the school. That 75K pays for that attention. Students get major attention from administrators to clean up student dumbness &, unfortunately, encourage that dumbness. This isn't an administrative reaction typical of a major public or private University with 40K students and full time legal advisors on staff.
I am sure the legal story is interesting for those interested in libel, or for those parents and students considering 75K per year private colleges in the mid-west.
I know people who have attended Oberlin. I'm curious about libel cases. We know someone who works as a full-time legal advisor for a major University. They warn clueless administrators about legal issues. Nice job for a lawyer natch. But to expect national coverage of this story, is a little much. I find the town and gown tensions interesting, but ultimately it's a local dispute. Could be a great long-form article. But it's not even a public institution, so not very newsworthy, except for liable lawyers.
I went to Drudge and searched for "Oberlin" and got 0/0. And (it is touched on here by commenter KheSanh) I read that it is possible/likely that the judgment will not be covered by liability insurance because it was the result of bad actions taken by the insured. I do suspect we haven't heard the end of this, and will see future articles about the financial difficulties of Oberlin College.
Lawyers often miss the forest for the forest.
Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo: “I’d say unleash the students if I wasn’t convinced this needs to be put behind us.”
A dean admitting she has the ability to round up students to intimidate others for ideological purposes is probably the most important development in all of this.
Speaking of radical leftwing harassment. What is going on with the Covington Harassment cases?
In other words: Oberlin is more similar to a small elite prep school then to a University -- from the size to the coddling administrative attention of the students. It's not a major public University with public interests at stake. It's interesting in the way that Fitzgerald found rich people interesting. Interesting, odd stories.
Add interest in this story to the list of things wwww admits not understanding.
Save for later.
"But to expect national coverage of this story, is a little much"
In one sense this is true, but do you really think it would be ignored if it the plaintiffs had been an abortion clinic and the defendants had been Liberty University? I don't- I think it would have been on the front page of both papers and above the fold- CNN would have carried coverage of the trial every single day.
Enough said about that nonsense.
People who oppose the nonsense want it talked about. People who support the nonsense want others to stop talking about it so the practices can continue their migration from campus to the culture at large.
,,,I read that it is possible/likely that the judgment will not be covered by liability insurance,,,
What impact on the risk calculus of Insurance industry for this type of liability?
Is this the first "advertising and reputation injury" case arising from colleges?
EAB at 9:28 AM
Oberlin refused to settle and thought it would be dismissed.
I think that Oberlin thought that at a trial they would be able to present students and staff to testify that they had been subjected to racist treatment in the store.
Since, however, the three shoplifters accepted a plea bargain that compelled them to state publicly that racism was not involved in that incident, the judge did not allow Oberlin to present such testimony.
Oberlin realized too late that their shoplifting students' plea-bargain statements doomed Oberlin in a future trial.
Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo
How long 'til she resigns? She has already cost Oberlin north of $1M in legal costs (I'm guessing), now this. I understand that having her leave under a cloud makes the people who hired her look bad -- but how can she leave under anything but a cloud now?
Melissa Click, who after all didn't harm a local business -- that I recall, anyway -- was able to find employ after being fired from Missouri after the protests there. I wonder where Meredith Raimondo will end up. If the jury decisions hold up, her actions have cost her employer 10s of millions. I wouldn't hire someone like that.
The laws against shoplifting are just a manifestation of the White Patriarchy.
Imagine a world in which Leftists decide which stories are important for others in newsrooms.
And then Leftists come into blog comments and tell others what is it is not important.
That seems like bad strategy when dealing with other adults.
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