Posted on 10/30/2013 4:55:37 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
BELLEFONTE, PA. A Pennsylvania judge said Tuesday he would decide later whether to allow a lawsuit against the NCAA filed by the family of longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and others to go forward.
After hearing more than three hours of arguments, Judge John B. Leete said he planned to issue a written opinion but did not say when.
A lawyer for college sports' governing body urged him to throw out the complaint.
The lawsuit and the court are "a poor forum for the venting of frustration, and the NCAA should not be made the scapegoat for the errors and omissions of university officials," NCAA lawyer Everett Johnson said.
Number of Penn State abuse victims more than doubles Leete is considering a host of issues, including whether Penn State itself is an indispensable party to the lawsuit, which challenges the NCAA penalties imposed on Penn State as a result of the Jerry Sandusky child-molestation scandal.
The Paterno family - joined by four university trustees, four faculty members, nine former players and two former coaches - allege breach of contract, contract interference, defamation, civil conspiracy and commercial disparagement.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Joseph Loveland, called the sanctions "coercion and a cram-down of the highest order." He said his clients wanted to compare the Penn State matter with how the NCAA has handled other cases.
"The truth of the matter is they were acting completely in uncharted waters with nothing whatsoever to support them on it," Loveland said.
The court session was held a day after Penn State announced $59.7 million in settlements with 26 young men over claims of abuse by Sandusky ...
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Maybe in discovery the plaintiffs will find evidence that the NCAA was aware of Sandusky abuses. Everyone else knew, it is hard to believe the NCAA, a corrupt organization, was not aware.
You would have thought, that with his reputation, Sandusky would have been highly sought after as a head coach, but I rarely heard any schools inquiring about him. Could there have been even back then, word over the grapevine about Sandusky's proclivities?
He’s as guilty as sanddouchbag.
Oh but he was a good coach.
The Mussolini defense.
Excellent Point... this could be a Pulitzer story if some reporter would actually investigate.
The Paterno family wants everyone to believe that Joe Pa was just a naive, simple old guy who was oblivious to this sort of activity having spent his whole adult life in the insular bubble of Penn State. Well, everyone is not naive nor oblivious and few if any are buying their spin.
I’ll bet it’s going on in an institution near you that you may even be part of.
Does that make you culpable???
Not applicable. College coaches spend more time together than they do with their families. Paterno spent 10 hours a day or more 6-7 days a week with Sandusky for 30 years. He would have had to have been the stupidest or most naive person on this earth not to have known something.
What I said to the previous poster also applies to you and all of us. What Sandusky did made everyone look stupid and naive.
The most stupid and naive are those who allowed Sandusky's 2nd Mile charity to close its doors, destroy its files, and move out of state without a full investigation of its activities.
Last time I checked all of Sandusky's victims came from that charity.
Only the naive and stupid continue to blame Paterno while the elephant in the room was given a free pass out of town.
I agree. The is an underlying fear to be the one who calls out deviant behavior and be labeled a racist, homophobe, old fashioned, or worse, be wrong and be libel. The media and segments of society have dulled our senses and we let it happen.
I am not a Joe hater. There were many people who dropped the ball here but I decry those that think Joe was oblivious.
Let’s say that Paterno or anyone at Penn State suspected that Sandusky was molesting children.
Without evidence just what could they have done about it especially since Sandusky had been investigated on multiple occasions by state agencies as an adopting parent and had a stellar record.
And don’t forget that Sandusky was fully investigated in 1998 for child molestation by state and county agencies and charges were dropped.
So just what evidence could anyone have brought to get these agencies to reopen their files knowing of course that all such investigations are confidential and it is a violation of state law to tell anyone or even to know that there is an investigation of this kind going on.
Yes. And Paterno was an accessory.
Oh I think Sandusky was just the tip of the iceberg over a wide-ranging child prostitution ring. There’s a lot of stuff the authorities don’t want to get out, because it involves some very powerful people.
“I’ll bet it’s going on in an institution near you that you may even be part of.
Does that make you culpable???”
Ahh, a Penn State lurker! Well, to answer your culpable question; if I should be the head of an organization such as a catholic Diogenes, a business, etc, sure, I would be held accountable. Happens all the time. Likewise, Joe Pa as head of the PSU football program should be held accountable. Ignorance is not an excuse which goes back to my point. I question that he was ignorant of what was going on. Apparently Sandusky was taking these boys with him to await games, team functions such as awards banquets, etc. so, now you’re asking that everyone believe that Joe Pa was stupid on top of everything else? Suggest that you remove those blinders you’re wearing and look at the scandal objectively. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck it’s probably a duck :)
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