Posted on 06/23/2003 6:31:09 PM PDT by tvn
A lawsuit filed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on behalf of five Big East schools, including UConn, against the aforementioned has been assigned to Judge Samuel Sferrazza in Rockville Superior Court in the near future...
Blumenthal said in a Sunday teleconference with the media. "We are seeking our day in court. We want a meeting with the judge as soon as possible."
The lawsuit wants to stop the ACC from possibly expanding or seek punitive damages if the ACC does expand. The suit contends Miami and Boston College acted deceptively because they talked with the ACC about leaving the Big East to go to the ACC as early as 2001. At the same time, the lawsuit contends, the schools made reassurances to the Big East that they werent going to leave the conference.
"The University of Miami and BC repeatedly reassured our schools that they were firmly committed to the (Big East)," Blumenthal said. "It isnt illegal to withdraw (from the conference). What is illegal is to lie and leave. They failed to play by the rules. Our claims are based on the existence of a conspiracy." [Blumenthal said]
(Excerpt) Read more at zwire.com ...
THe Attorney General of Connecticut is continuing his efforts to intimidate and coerce Miami, BC and Syracuse to stay in the Big East Conference. The schools have a legal right under contract (protected under the US Constitution- Art IV, Sec 1) to leave the Big East on payment of a $1MM fee.
The Connecticut Attorney General has filed a lawsuit charging the schools - and their presidents- with conspiracy. The only thing they are guilty of is seeking to exercise the contract rights they secured when joining the Big East.
Blumental should be sued for abuse of process and malicious prosecution. He should also be sued for participating in a conspiracy of his own. What's really at issue here is covering up the actions of the State of Connecticut officials who went and built a $100MM stadium on the assumption that Connecticut would continue to play top football teams.
No investment officer in private enterprise would ever have entered such a deal without having a solid contract with the football league.
To undertake the stadium project without ptroper legal underpinning clearly amounted to gross negligence on the part of the State. And to now turn around and use the court system to intimidate and coerce Miami, BC and Syracuse in an effort to prevent them from exercising their full contract rights constitutes outrageous and abusive conduct on the part of the Connecticut State officials, including the Governor and his Attorney General.
It's a bit more complicated than that. The bolting Big Easterner's gave verbal, as well as written reassurance of their loyalty to the conference when questioned prior to the capital investment.
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