Baylor University’s student newspaper, The Lariat, reported that two student senators filed suit against the senate president for not upholding her duties.
The same day, the school’s student judicial board issued a “gag order” against The Lariat, seeking to prevent its reporters from even contacting any member of the student court considering the case – except the designated spokesman, the Student Press Law Center reported.
No member of the press shall make intentional contact with any member of the Court regarding the case aforementioned EXCEPT the Chief Justice of the Court, Cody Coll, who shall serve as the SOLE SPOKSPERSON [sic] FOR THE COURT. …
Violations in item (II) may result in the member of the press found in violation being held in CONTEMPT OF COURT and referred to the Dean for Judicial Affairs for further proceedings.
Coll thinks he has the authority to make this ludicrous order, but the paper is calling his bluff and accusing him of retaliation for basic reporting:
“Sources have the option of declining an interview, but it is our right to contact them for the interview in the first place,” [editor-in-chief Linda Wilkins] said. “To tell us that we can’t do that does violate a right.” …
On Thursday, news editor Jonathan Platt wrote an opinion piece for The Lariat, condemning the student court’s “gag order.”
“Here’s my ‘intentional contact’ to all who attempt to silence journalists, at Baylor and abroad: My pursuit to report is constitutionally protected and intimidation will not stop me,” he wrote. “Try, but I’ll be dead before I stop this work.”
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