Posted on 08/06/2012 3:50:31 PM PDT by safetysign
A Penn State trustee has told the NCAA that he intends to appeal college sports governing body's strict sanctions on the university for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
It would be ironic if the NCAA responds by saying “Forget the $60 million . . . you can have the ‘death penalty’ instead.”
Based on what?
What right does the NCAA have to impose the fine?
Ryan McCombie’s (retired Navy Seal and newly elected B.O.T. member) letter to the Board of Trustees:
06 August 2012
Dear fellow board members
The challenges we have dealt with over the past year have been the most difficult and demanding that any Board of a Public University has ever faced. The issues are incredibly painful and highly contentious and the path that we should follow is anything but clear. Nonetheless, it is our mission to determine what happened without favor or bias toward the responsible parties, just as it is our duty as trustees to act in the best interests of Penn State. I do not believe the recent actions of the Administration and the NCAA have been consistent with that mission, and I cannot but feel that our inaction is a failure in our duty. I believe we owe to all involved – especially our University community – to insist on and require full due process before we accept these penalties.
Due process is not a theoretical concept to me. It is one of the core values that I fought for as a Navy Seal and as a 26-year veteran of the US Navy. I spent much of my adult life in 3rd world countries ruled by tyrannical dictators. Little did I know upon retiring from this exciting yet stressful vocation to bucolic Central PA, that I would become embroiled in a comparable experience here.
I respect Louis Freeh and I appreciate the work he and his staff did to investigate the handling of the Sandusky matter. At the same time, I think it is important to recognize that the Freeh report is not the equivalent of a legal hearing or review. No one testified under oath; multiple key witnesses were not interviewed; accused parties were not given a fair chance to respond; the findings were highly subjective; and several individuals are still waiting to have their day in court. Yet despite these very serious limitations and others, our Board allowed the Freeh report to be presented as a full and fair review, which it most certainly is not; and we stood by passively while the University accepted an unprecedented penalty from the NCAA, based entirely on the findings of the Freeh report. These are grave mistakes that inflict undue harm on the entire Penn State community, in addition to compromising the rights of numerous individuals.
The argument that is given on all of these issues is that we must do whatever we can to serve the victims and act in a way that eliminates the chance that something like this can ever happen again. I support that end and understand the sentiment behind it, but also know that we owe it to our University and the constituencies we represent to demand due process in this matter. Our desire for speed and decisiveness cannot and must not justify actions that clearly and decisively compromise the future of this institution, unfairly tarnish its reputation and violate the rights of accused individuals. If in the rush to put this crisis behind us, we act in a way that limits the discovery of the full truth or unfairly blames certain individuals, while exempting others who rightfully deserve blame, we will have completely failed on the most important task this Board will ever have.
It is for these reasons that I have decided to file an appeal today with the NCAA seeking a full due process hearing. Additionally, I will be, along with others, seeking to determine whether President Erickson had the authority to enter into the consent decree absent Board approval. It is my belief that this matter did require board approval and that we should engage in a full, and complete, review. In the end, we all benefit from having this matter handled correctly and with full regard for due process – only then can we be truly confident in the result and the actions we take as a board. Furthermore, only after we have given all involved the opportunity to be heard can we move forward together as one University.
It is my sincere hope that some or all of you will join me on this path. If you wish to join in my appeal, please contact my attorney, Paul Kelly, at (617) 305-1263, or by email paul.kelly@jacksonlewis.com.
Let me also be clear: I do not do this seeking a predetermined result nor do I claim to know what the final answers will be. If there is blame to be borne by any or all of our officials, a due process hearing will not hide that fact and I will accept it – as will the tens of thousands of Penn Staters out there not assuaged by a limited process.
I know my actions will be poorly received by some on this board and in the community at large. To that end it would be easier to remain silent and allow these unfair actions to remain unchallenged. I cannot do this. As long as I am a member of this board, I will fight to learn the full truth of the Sandusky scandal and then, and only then, endorse the assignment of blame and the imposition of sanctions.
For the Glory,
Ryan J. McCombie
Like Rush said today, they took Louis Freeh’s report and ran with it. They just wanted to get this behind them.
He seems like a really admirable man, but can one trustee appeal?
The NAMBLAny Lions got the lightest sanctions possible for them. Rhythmic Slappy Valley ain't gonna just waltz away from decades of homosexual child rape.
(Not defending the horrible actions of Jerry Sandusky, but Penn State may win this in court. )
The NCAA has already stated NO APPEALS...
Don’t know if the trustee would have standing to sue in court but would not matter the NCAA never loses........
The appeal will be denied. The Paterno Family attorney already sent up that trial balloon the other day and it was denied in minutes.
This time, there will be a little more consideration but will likely end up in Federal Court.
There are also internal issues as to whether or not President SitsDowntoPee had the right to sign any consent agreement - especially one that would off the bat cost the University $60 million. Decisions that involve money like that need to go before the entire board and it didn't - just a select few.
If anyone wants the truth - it is out there (not in the main stream media though). It is at conservative blogger/documentary maker John Ziegler's new website:
The NCAA is not behaving with prudent oversight or legal authority. All they are doing is knee-jerking PSU in the groin.
Here’s the problem.
1. They do not clearly entitle the organization to punish Penn State. The way they have selectively chosen to enforce it in the past (Baylor basketball coach covered up a murder and they didn’t invoke it) would work against them in court.
2. The President of Penn State acted without consulting the BOT. The university by-laws do not allow the President to write checks prior to consulting the BOT, which happened in this case.
3. Louis Freeh’s report has more holes than Barack Obama’s birth certificate. I’ve read it in its entirety and the conclusion that this was a massive coverup to protect the university’s image is not even remotely supported at all by the facts in his report. Louis Freeh also recently wrote a report on a FIFA (soccer) President that resulted in the man’s lifetime ban from the sport. That ban was lifted last month by a Swiss court that ruled Freeh’s conclusions didn’t match the evidence provided. (Sound familiar?). Louis Freeh is also a left-wing political hack who ran a very shady FBI back in the 90s. Guess what Joe Paterno was? A life-long conservative Republican. Freeh was hired to do exactly what he did. Pin it all on Paterno.
My lawyer friend in LA sent me this response:
“I am one of the very few persons in the U.S. who has downloaded, printed, and read every word of the Freeh Report. So I have the disadvantage of knowing what I am talking about.
I think when the case eventually gets into the Federal court, Penn State will win. The Penn State trustees are asserting that Mr. Erickson did not have authority to enter into the consent decree. The NCAA response is that
Penn State was looking down the gun barrel at a four year “death penalty” if Erickson did not sign the consent decree.
In the law, that is called “coercion” which is something we learn about in our first year of law school.
I think all aspects of the NCAA penalty against Penn State can be affirmed EXCEPT the $60 million fine. That is a “taking” of property without due process of law. I am not aware of any other cases in which the NCAA has imposed anything that even resembles such an enormous and onerous fine.
Penn State’s Board of Trustees will have some good, high-priced lawyers who will assert the arguments I have described above, and a lot more. ‘
If there were ever an organization on Earth that deserved a knee in the groin, it’s Penn State.
Personally I’d take a rusty hatchet to their collective groin.
Didn't you hear that Goodell and the NFL have offered to cut Vilma's suspension in half if he agrees to drop his defamation lawsuit. I don't think the NFL and Goodell are in as good a position as they once thought. The NFL and Goodell will lose if the case goes to trial.
As for the NCAA, it has a lousy record with lawsuits. Tarkanian won huge, as did Rick Neuheisel.
The PSU trustees will win because while the sexual abuse cover-ups were criminal, there was no competitive advantage gained and I have serious doubts that the NCAA has jurisdiction over the matter.
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I think Adam is in. I think it is the three newly elected members and they have rocked the boat enough that a few more are coming around.
Erickson, Peetz, and Joyner all have to go now in my opinion. They all had prior knowledge (as they were all B.O.T. members at the time) of the GJ and simply failed at their duties.
Remember Erickson was the one that gave those keys to js. Not Joe. The current President of the University was the last to sign off on his “emeritus status”....how ironic.
Actually, the NCAA has a poor record in court.
“...to insist on and require full due process before we accept these penalties.”
Something to be said for honoring due process.
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