Attorney fights gag order in Oral Roberts Univ. case

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Attorney fights gag order in Oral Roberts Univ. case

By The Associated Press
02.14.08

TULSA, Okla. — A gag order barring all parties in a civil lawsuit involving Oral Roberts University and its former president, Richard Roberts, from discussing the case outside the courtroom violates the First Amendment and should be lifted, a pleading before the Oklahoma Supreme Court states.

The petition was filed this week by Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson, who is representing two former ORU professors in a wrongful-termination lawsuit against the school.

“A gag order in a civil case is a rare thing,” Richardson said yesterday. “I would say it’s practically nonexistent.”

In granting the gag order last month, District Judge Rebecca Nightingale said two constitutional rights were in competition in the case: the right to a fair trial and the right to freedom of speech.

She also expressed concern that the national attention the case has garnered could hamper either side’s ability to a fair jury trial in the future.



Read more: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19678

[AlCzervik]

1. This headline amuses me and i love this story.