One of the most egregious and well documented cases of news media dishonesty, libel, cowardice and greed along with official misconduct by the NCAA and others, will finally go on trial in a court of law where facts and rules of evidence, not media dishonesty,a mob mentality, distortions or ratings, web hits and newsstand sales at the expense of a man's reputation, will be the standard on which facts will be presented and judged.
On Tuesday a judge ruled that the Paterno family's law suit against the NCAA can continue. The issue had always been, would the judge find that the Paterno's had standing to challenge the NCAA sanctions as they pertained to Joe Paterno. The NCAA had asked for the suit to be dismissed on the grounds that the Paterno family didn't have standing. The judge ruled they did, and decided it on the basis of an evidentiary showing that libel was involved and that one of the issues to be decided in court will be the NCAA's" reckless disregard" for "falsities" in the Freeh Report on which they based their decisions.
The judge wrote:
"Plaintiffs ( the Paterno family) identified disparaging statements accusing Joe Paterno of enabling and concealing child sexual abuse and knowledge or reckless disregard for their falsity" (italics mine)
In other words, the judge was satisfied that there was a showing that those accusations in the Freeh Report at the heart of the attack on Paterno were in fact false and the issue will be the NCAA's knowledge of, or reckless disregard "with respect to their falsity".
On Tuesday a judge ruled that the Paterno family's law suit against the NCAA can continue. The issue had always been, would the judge find that the Paterno's had standing to challenge the NCAA sanctions as they pertained to Joe Paterno. The NCAA had asked for the suit to be dismissed on the grounds that the Paterno family didn't have standing. The judge ruled they did, and decided it on the basis of an evidentiary showing that libel was involved and that one of the issues to be decided in court will be the NCAA's" reckless disregard" for "falsities" in the Freeh Report on which they based their decisions.
The judge wrote:
"Plaintiffs ( the Paterno family) identified disparaging statements accusing Joe Paterno of enabling and concealing child sexual abuse and knowledge or reckless disregard for their falsity" (italics mine)
In other words, the judge was satisfied that there was a showing that those accusations in the Freeh Report at the heart of the attack on Paterno were in fact false and the issue will be the NCAA's knowledge of, or reckless disregard "with respect to their falsity".
This means that Louis Freeh, his dishonest report, the NCAA and by extension a slew of purported journalists and news organizations will also be on trial for their self serving dishonest reporting attacking Joe Paterno, falsifying facts, and distorting his relationship to the issues surrounding Jerry Sandusky and Penn State.
Outstanding and about time. I can not wait for the BoT and Freeh to show up to try and wiggle their way out of this>
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more! This ability to buy slander from Louis Freeh most be stopped. It is an absolute threat to truth and justice in this country. This man, Freeh, has set up a white collar racketeer business that caters to wealthy and powerful corporate and government entities that desire to hide their own illegal activities. Freeh is labeling himself as an investigator when in fact, he is selling untruths and slander labeled as "reports" for lottery-size payouts.
DeleteThis should concern every average law-abiding citizen, because any one of us can be ruined by this "business" if Freeh is allowed to continue deceiving the public. If you've invested your life, as Paterno did, to the good of your community or your organization, you can be destroyed with the stroke of Freeh's pen. All because some bumbling, jealous, and immoral state politician, such as Corbett, can't handle the respect that you've earned in an honest and decent way. You, as Paterno and Spanier were, can be destroyed at the whim of a jealous dictator.
As Ray pointed out earlier, this miserable excuse for a human being (Freeh), can be tried and convicted under the RICO Act. Because he truly is a racketeer with no regard or respect for decent honest people.
Truthseeker, I encourage you to compose and submit a petition via Change.org regarding Louis Freeh's record of investigations.
ReplyDeleteI'll sign! Let us know when the petition is submitted!!
Truthseeker;
ReplyDeleteYour commentary is right on the mark. Keep up the good work!!
As I sit here writing this all I can think of is that payback will come in some form. Especially, now that we have an "Athletics Integrity Monitor" on the coaching search panel. Thanks to Louie and the spineless!
Unfortunately the judge dismissed the request to throw out the sanctions because the University was not part of the lawsuit. Hopefully, this will start allowing real information to finally get a wider public stage, but the media has already shown it will disregard what it wants, including Frank Fina, the Sandusky prosecutor, saying on national TV that he did not believe Paterno was part of a cover up. The media just wants to continue pushing stories that put PSU in a negative light. Just look at how PSU is getting criticized about hiring James Franklin because some players at Vanderbilt are facing rape charges. Never mind that kicked them off the team as soon as the charges were filed and the case prosecutor said Franklin had no involvement whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteThis ruling is good news, however I'll remain cautiously optimistic as to its true impact.
There is media interest in the "real story" of the Sandusky Scandal. However, don't expect the Patriot News or CDT to ever break the news about the truth. It is more likely to come out in the national media or a cable network who has the $$$ to do the story right. Not these local hacks.
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