5 day forecast
Paterno family files appeal of NCAA sanctions
Share with others:
The family of late Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno today notified the NCAA of its intent to appeal major sanctions imposed on the university last week by the regulatory body for the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal.
In a letter to NCAA President Mark A. Emmert, a copy of which was obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Paterno family lawyer Wick Sollers notified the NCAA of its intent to challenge the decision and a consent decree entered into by Penn State.
Mr. Sollers said the NCAA "acted hastily and without any regard for due process" and that the university's trustees chair and university president ignored what the attorney describes deep flaws in the Freeh report, upon which the sanctions are based.
"The estate undertakes this appeal to redress the enormous damage done to Penn State, the State College community, former, current and future student (s) and student athletes, Joe Paterno and certain others involved, as a result of the unprecedented actions taken by the NCAA," Mr. Sollers wrote.
He said the NCAA and Penn State's leadership, "by accepting and adopting the conclusions of the Freeh report, have maligned all of the above without soliciting contrary opinions or challenging a single finding of the Freeh Report."
The Paterno family wants to file its appeal in writing and requests an in-person, oral argument before the NCAA's infractions appeals committee, the executive committee, the Division I board of directors and /or other appropriate audiences within the intercollegiate sports governing body, Mr. Sollers said.
The appeal notice drew a brief and chilly response from NCAA leadership. "The Penn State sanctions are not subject to appeal," said vice president of communications Bob Williams.David La Torre, a Penn State spokesman, said the university had no comment.
A jury in June convicted Mr. Sandusky, 68, on 45 counts of sexual abuse of children. Some of the acts occurred on Penn State's campus.
A school-commissioned investigative report by former FBI director Louis J. Freeh and his firm found that Mr. Paterno and top campus administrators including former President Graham Spanier were involved in withholding from law enforcement for years allegations of child sex abuse by Mr. Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Penn State.
Two weeks after that report was released, the NCAA on July 23 imposed sanctions against the university including a $60 million fine, a four-year ban from post season football play and a sharp reduction in football scholarships.
The NCAA also vacated all wins by Penn State's football team dating from 1998, effectively stripping Mr. Paterno of his status as the nation's winningest major college football coach.
First Published August 3, 2012 5:29 pm
