Governor to sue NCAA over Penn State sanctions
Source: AP-Excite
By PETER JACKSON
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Tom Corbett said Tuesday he plans to sue the NCAA in federal court over stiff sanctions imposed against Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.
The Republican governor scheduled a Wednesday news conference on the Penn State campus in State College to announce the filing in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.
The sanctions, which were agreed to by the university in July, included a $60 million fine that would be used nationally to finance child abuse prevention grants. The sanctions also included a four-year bowl game ban for the university's marquee football program, reduced football scholarships and the forfeiture of 112 wins.
The governor's office announced the news conference late Tuesday afternoon. His spokesman did not respond to repeated calls and emails seeking to confirm a Sports Illustrated story that cited anonymous sources saying a lawsuit was imminent.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130101/DA3HMF9G0.html
In this Nov. 10, 2011 file photo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett makes remarks during a news conference after a Penn State Board of Trustees meeting in State College, Pa. Corbett said Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 he plans to sue the NCAA in federal court over sanctions imposed against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)A whole hell of a lot of people on DU were pretty unhappy with the idea that PSU needed to get punished for massive ongoing institutional failures; they'll perk right up at this.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Follow the money.
Outside Penn State; the general public feels PSU got what it deserved...
bucolic_frolic
(42,655 posts)fails horribly in court.
daa
(2,621 posts)That no athlete committed?
PSPS
(13,512 posts)Remember the Franklin coverup?
More at: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2003/02/06/15709461.php
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)SO many at the school were guilty of enabling Coach Pervert.
Just take the medicine like a man and SHUT UP.
Tempest
(14,591 posts)Kane was elected AG on the promise to find out what Corbett knew, when he knew it and what he did to derail a thorough investigation into the crime.
Do you have a link off hand...?
benld74
(9,888 posts)Tempest
(14,591 posts)I miss the days when everyone did their own research.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Led by the nose?
Sure I could have Googled it myself, and yielded a dozen or more stories...
I thought perhaps, you would have a really great link out of all the available options and would be willing to link it for the overall informative nature that DU is known for.
You sound like a jackass!
Tempest
(14,591 posts)You're admitting you want to be led by the nose.
And from those dozen or more stories you would have gotten the complete picture of the case. That is assuming you would take the time to research in the first place.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)Get over yourself.
it's not earth first's responsibility to prove someone else's argument.
IF someone appears to make an outrageous claim, it's acceptable to ask for proof and it's up the person making the claim to provide that proof.
underpants
(182,271 posts)Good lord
Arctic Dave
(13,812 posts)Ohhh, how about they boot your sorry asses out of the NCAA all together.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,146 posts)I know it's a state university, but surely the state's responsibility is in the area of education, not recreation?
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)That's what it's all about.
Tempest
(14,591 posts)Read up on Corbett while AG and his attempts to derail and prevent an investigation into the crimes.
former9thward
(31,798 posts)Lawsuits lead to depositions on both sides where anything can be asked and investigated.
Tempest
(14,591 posts)AG Kane ran and won on the platform of investigating Corbett's involvement in the crimes.
Corbett is trying to get ahead of the investigation by trying to get Penn State fans (which include the governor and probably all the legislature) to pressure her into not investigating him.
LynneSin
(95,337 posts)is to hopefully rally the fans around him.
This lawsuit is nothing more than a lame attempt to look like 'The Good Guy' when he knows in a few weeks new PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane is going to investigate why Corbett's AG term did nothing when they knew about Sandusky back in 2008.
Corbett didn't want to go after Sandusky for one reason only -Corbett felt he would have pissed off PSU fans and lost their vote in the 2010 governor election.
malthaussen
(17,065 posts)For this reason and that, I found the NCAA's actions a bit odd, but if Corbett is going to stick his nose in it, then I'll have to withdraw my objections. What a transparent effort to curry favor and deflect attention from his own role in the case.
-- Mal
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)The NCAA could have just shut down the whole program.
Tempest
(14,591 posts)It was a conspiracy.
RICO statutes should apply.
obamanut2012
(25,905 posts)He's up to his neck in the whole Paterno-Sandusky thing, and he's doing this?!
RobinA
(9,874 posts)the point? My understanding of this suit is that it is to have the sanction money spent in PA, not the nation as a whole. This, to me, makes sense, as there is probably a fair amount of tax dollars involved here. As a PA tax payer and someone in no way, shape, or form contected with PSU, I would prefer that this money (regardless of how I feel about the appropriateness of the sanction), be spent in-state. The ultimate destination of this money is important to me, because I generally feel it will end up lining pockets of the sports establishment rather than furthering any social cause. Frankly, I think it a money grab by the NCAA wrapped in santimony.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)drawing in revenues from around the nation, and recruiting from around the nation, and then demand that the fine money you have to pay for covering up a child sex abuser be spent in your great state.
Corbett's just trying to forestall the critique that the 60 mil is something he 'lost' for the state.
obamanut2012
(25,905 posts)He really has some nerve.
JVS
(61,935 posts)Tempest
(14,591 posts)You don't get the benefits of being a member of the NCAA and not expect to pay the penalties when rules are broken.
PSU is lucky they're still open. If I was the head of the DOJ, I'd shut them down using RICO.
JVS
(61,935 posts)beyond question. My position is covered here http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021025948
Now, you talk about if you were head of the DOJ. The DOJ is part of the justice system and has standing to impose all kinds of punishments. The NCAA is merely an organization formed by a coalition of college athletics departments in order to promote their business interests. If the NCAA decides that it does not want to conduct further business with PSU, that is fine with me as it is their right. But I have a big problem with the NCAA deciding that it will seize large quantities of money belonging to a state school and thereby at the ultimate expense of the Pennsylvanian taxpayer.
Tempest
(14,591 posts)Patented nonsense.
The NCAA has had and has always had punishments built into their contracts with their members. You sign an agreement which contains those punishments.
By LEGAL CONTRACT the NCAA has the right to issue fines.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)It's a handover of $60 million taxpayer dollars to what is, in essence, a privately held sports organization. More importantly, those are $60 million taxpayer dollars that were earmarked by the legislature for education. It's probably improper for a school employee to be arbitrarily signing it over without approval from the state government.
The NCAA should have levied its fine the same way the Big Ten did. Rather than demanding lump sum payments, the Big Ten has decided to simply divert bowl revenue from Penn State for the next few years. Penn State will feel the loss, but they'll never touch the penalty dollars themselves and there's no danger of private sports revenue being mixed up with public educational dollars.
Of course, I'm also not opposed to simply eliminating the Penn State athletics programs entirely for a few years as a penalty.
liberal N proud
(60,298 posts)Penn State chose to be part of the NCAA and that mean abiding by their rules and suffering the consequences when said rules are broken.
The Governor is worried more about the trophies and less about the souls.
JVS
(61,935 posts)That's the taxpayers' money.
Fastcars
(204 posts)I don't know that it is fair to say that the $60 million fine is "taxpayer's money".
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)Big-time college football is the NFL Development League. They could pay that fine without a nickel of tax money.
They SHOULD get quite a bit from Sandusky and some from JoePa's estate, but they won't.
Tempest
(14,591 posts)I'm betting it far surpasses the amount of the fine.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)and expose the ties between Corbett, Sandusky, and the 3rd Mile. Corbett cut taxes for Sandusky's foundation, which then gave it back to him in "campaign contributions". Please, open up this can of worms, Holder.
ReformedGOPer
(478 posts)Corbett knew all about Sandusky for at least three years before it became public. PSU alumni (which make up probably half of the state's population) are pissed as hell at him for not finding a way to stop/bury/hide the whole thing years ago. Of course, he couldn't do anything about it and still run for Governor. Corbett knows that our new AG (a Dem) ran on the promise of a complete investigation of the cover-up at Penn State. Corbett is merely trying to get some of the richer alumni on his side.
LynneSin
(95,337 posts)Corbett knew about the Sandusky case back in 2008 when he was the state Attorney General and yet all he did was assign the MINIMUM to investigate the case (he assigned one state police).
If Joe Paterno had to lose his job because he knew and did nothing then so should Corbett. Hell Corbett took campaign contributions from Sandusky's charity Second Mile when he (corbett) was running for Governor.
In a nutshell Corbett is hoping this lawsuit will rally the PSU fans around him and help stave off the investigation into the crime. Personally I hope PSU fans lead the way because perhaps if Corbett did his job then Paterno's job might have been spared.