Penn State And The Death Penalty

[NewsCopy]

Calling for Penn State to get the death penalty due to the Jerry Sandusky coverup? It might be helpful if we define exactly what the death penalty is and think about the total impact ...

The rest of the story

[Frenchie35]

It can tell the rest of the members not to schedule but can't force them not to.......is this what he is saying.? If so why did we shut down in '73 & '74?

There's no way for the NCAA to prevent a school from playing a sport -- the NCAA would need guns and jails to do that -- but it can tell the rest of its members not to schedule the blackballed team. The NFL could erase a team forever, but the NCAA can only shut a team out of the NCAA.

[BananaHammock]

What Joe Paterno and that Athletic Department did still is unbelievable to me. The Death Penalty may not be popular but this is a case it can't ignore. Sandusky should burn in hell and Joe P not far behind him.

[CajunsHat]

punishing the current players and students for what happened years ago isnt the answer...death penalty should not be dealt to Penn state. just my opinion.

[douglas]

it would be pretty unprecedented for the ncaa to step in on ethics violations that occurred in a criminal matter. I agree what happened was beyond horrible at penn state but they have never stepped in at any other school on the basis of ethics or institutional control.
and yes they can in a way they blackball you, without getting their hands dirty which is why it works Since the early 70's they have absorbed nearly every other league-naia, aau, along with both women's leagues in the 80's through some pretty shady tactics for incentives for tv contracts which eventually killed off the competition.

you can still play naia but they have torn it to shreds to accomplish there end game-complete control of amateur sports.

[douglas]

from reading the mountains of infraction cases in the last year and reading the language in that article it seems obvious that they are getting something terrible though. Every case file i have read that includes the "hurry up and respond " tactic ended pretty badly. In fact from what i have researched "official inquiries" have a 100% conviction rate, and a 100% appeal denial also

[Oiler]

punishing the current players and students for what happened years ago isnt the answer...death penalty should not be dealt to Penn state. just my opinion.

I couldn't disagree with you more on this issue. Those in a position to stop what was happening chose not to do so. Paterno and the Penn State administration chose the well being of Penn State football over the well being of children. The death penalty is the ONLY appropriate thing for that sorry program. I hope Penn State is bankrupted by the coming lawsuits it will be facing.

[CharlieK]

I couldn't disagree with you more on this issue. Those in a position to stop what was happening chose not to do so. Paterno and the Penn State administration chose the well being of Penn State football over the well being of children. The death penalty is the ONLY appropriate thing for that sorry program. I hope Penn State is bankrupted by the coming lawsuits it will be facing.

The multi year coverup of criminal behavior of the most evil kind for the purpose of saving the University and Football team. That coverup directly affected the success of the team......Paterno et al surely thought so, hence the coverup. The NCAA shouldn't even have to shut it down, the University should and barring that, whatever state body runs that school should.

[Cajunsmike]

I couldn't disagree with you more on this issue. Those in a position to stop what was happening chose not to do so. Paterno and the Penn State administration chose the well being of Penn State football over the well being of children. The death penalty is the ONLY appropriate thing for that sorry program. I hope Penn State is bankrupted by the coming lawsuits it will be facing.

Were the Penn State program to be dismantled for a short time, all the players would be eligible to transfer to other schools without the need to sit out a season. Pitt Panthers may get a windfall were this to occur.

[Just1More]

This crime went "institutional" and the institution should take a heavy penalty. The cover-up was directly a result of an insane institutional pride. This is a clear case, in my opinion, of an entire organization that needs to suffer massively for this egregious lack of morality, empathy and required social decency. The only way society is going to inform institutions that disclosure of crimes, even at the embarrassment of the beloved institution, is mandatory, is to penalize them beyond their ease of recovery. It is not going to be enough that the victims are going to settle for large monetary claims. Penn State has the financial ability to pay this off and not suffer financially.

There are always innocent victims associated with the punishment of the perpetrators of a crime. Do we not punish someone because their family members will suffer? Our society needs a severely punished Penn State so that we can establish a new precedent on common decency. This criminal was destroying young people's souls and they looked the other way. He could have been stopped long before he had the opportunity to victimize other innocent children. These weren't the sons of the elite of Penn State. These were at-risk young boys. That institution needs to be slammed to the max in my opinion.

Oh, and I'd feel the same way if this all happened at UL.

[sportsfanatic21]

This crime went "institutional" and the institution should take a heavy penalty. The cover-up was directly a result of an insane institutional pride. This is a clear case, in my opinion, of an entire organization that needs to suffer massively for this egregious lack of morality, empathy and required social decency. The only way society is going to inform institutions that disclosure of crimes, even at the embarrassment of the beloved institution, is mandatory, is to penalize them beyond their ease of recovery. It is not going to be enough that the victims are going to settle for large monetary claims. Penn State has the financial ability to pay this off and not suffer financially.

There are always innocent victims associated with the punishment of the perpetrators of a crime. Do we not punish someone because their family members will suffer? Our society needs a severely punished Penn State so that we can establish a new precedent on common decency. This criminal was destroying young people's souls and they looked the other way. He could have been stopped long before he had the opportunity to victimize other innocent children. These weren't the sons of the elite of Penn State. These were at-risk young boys. That institution needs to be slammed to the max in my opinion.

Oh, and I'd feel the same way if this all happened at UL.

Spot on.

[CajunsHat]

I couldn't disagree with you more on this issue. Those in a position to stop what was happening chose not to do so. Paterno and the Penn State administration chose the well being of Penn State football over the well being of children. The death penalty is the ONLY appropriate thing for that sorry program. I hope Penn State is bankrupted by the coming lawsuits it will be facing.

I'm not saying they shouldn't be punished. The entire administration and coaches should be replaced. And anyone else found guilty of knowing what was going on should be as well.
But because of the case of SMU and UL (basketball) I don't think death penalty should be given. Punish those involved and those who could have stopped it. That's all I'm saying...