Penn State Scandal Shows Courts As The Remedy Of First Resort Aug 4th 2013, 22:33
Statue Of Joe Paterno (Photo credit: audreyjm529)
Not long ago, there were more traffic lawsuits in Chicago than there were lawsuits in all of Japan. In Japan, it was a badge of honor to be an amicable peacemaker and a badge of disgrace to file a lawsuit for lack of the requisite character to avoid it. If there is any doubt about whether the US is still the most litigious nation in the history of the planet, look no further than Planet Penn State. Almost every conceivable group has sued everybody else. I'll list the lawsuits I remember. Then you tell me how many earnestly attempted to admit their own faults, mediate or arbitrate their differences as a badge of honor.
Tuesday's district court order was no shock. That order mandated that PSU's former president, vice president, and athletic director (Spanier, Schultz, and Curley, respectively) stand trial. I wish I could make some clever or funny reference to the Three Stooges here, but there is just no joking about the allegation that these three knew, covered up, failed to report and lied to a grand jury plus investigators concerning former coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual preying on young boys.
More surprising is how others use the courts for retribution and liability avoidance, far from a punishment that fits a crime. The NCAA did its equivalent of a lawsuit by imposing severe penalties and a $ 600 million fine. The Governor of Pennsylvania sued the NCAA on antitrust grounds. The court dismissed the case saying there was not even remotely plausible evidence of collusion. The Paterno family sued the NCAA. The Paterno family also sued Louis Freeh, who prepared the report on behalf of the NCAA. Some of the plaintiffs include PSU trustees, faculty members, former coaches and former players.
PSU also sued the NCAA for improper process and decision making in the sanctions leveled against the university. More than 325 former Penn State football players and coaches spanning six decades are supporting that action, though not as party plaintiffs. Those litigation supporters include Todd Blackledge, Franco Harris Harris, Paul Posluszny, Kerry Collins, and O.J. McDuffie. They sent an open letter asking others to join them as if it were a pep rally. And trustees have been blamed for breaching their fiduciary duty to the university when authorizing sanctions against the university. Cynically viewed, it is just a free-for-all looking for a fee-for-all without a thought to whether suing others is a bad thing. At best there are pursuits of principles, but using the court to make the point and demanding action against the defendants.
The individual victims had claims that gave rise to $ 60 million of settlements by PSU. Without that settlement the claims would likely resemble years of litigation experienced by the Catholic Church defending claims of sexual child abuse by its priests.
More surprising is the continued claim by the three former PSU officials on trial that they just thought Sandusky and the children were involved in "horseplay". The Sandusky crimes involved several children over several years. Then there's the uncontroverted email from Spanier that "the only downside for us is if the message isn't heard…" How can he avoid a jury's fact finding that the "we" was PSU administrators and that the "message" was about Sandusky's behavior? With the mountain of evidence already existing, there should already be a resolution, not a trial. There is already evidence that all three men decided to confront Sandusky about the problem. How can that not be tantamount to an admission of complicit knowledge? And if that wasn't enough, now there's this week's preliminary hearing testimony of former assistant coach Mike McQueary that Paterno told him "Old Main screwed up", referring to the building where the president and other administrators had offices.
Little is publicized about whether the fund for the victims is well funded. I dare say there is not as much inertia exerted for that than the multiplicity of lawsuits. I suspect the corrective procedures promised by PSU has not been monitored with the vigor either.
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