The football season is about the players who had nothing to do with the alleged scandal. They deserve to play despite harsh criticism from the media.
Ever since the grand jury report went viral, the media has been on a mission to crucify Penn State and its top brass. What the media failed to highlight was everyone fired or placed on administrative leave is entitled to due process. Those implicated in the scandal, by law, are innocent until proven guilty. Being the allegations in the grand jury report were so horrendous, the media sent the compelling message that all allegations in the grand jury report must be true so everyone associated must be guilty.
Well that is simply false. A grand jury is designed to review evidence of criminal wrongdoing and issue an indictment accordingly. The criticism lies in the process. Typically grand jury members are not allowed to ask questions, are not provided the basic understanding of laws, are not screened for biases or other improper factors, and are not entitled to attorneys. In fact, the grand jury relies solely on what the prosecutor presents as facts with no real applicable rules of evidence or law. This is why many states abolished the grand jury process (aside from serious felonies) because the grand jury becomes the prosecutor’s rubber stamp. Mind you, this is no fault of the grand jury. The prosecutor provides a one-sided story with his understanding of the law in which the grand jury draws a conclusion.
This is in no way saying Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Mike McQueary, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley, and Graham Spanier are innocent. The fact, whether you want to believe it or not, is we don’t know. That’s why we have a legal process and the grand jury is the first mechanism in determining the answer to this provocative question.
The board of trustees really dropped the ball on the handling of the entire situation. At the very least, everyone mentioned in the grand jury report should have immediately been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation when these allegation first arose–due process. The delay only caused the masses to believe that this scandal is more of a university wide problem.
So for all you naysayers, you do not know the facts, no one does, so making rash conclusion like calling for Penn State to end its football season is just ludicrous. Let the legal process take its course. Have faith in the judicial system. It’s not the best, but it works.
The events that transpired have nothing to do with the current players and students. Let them enjoy their season and their college experience. When this case unfolds during the legal process, the truth, or a variation thereof, will come out and then we can begin to judge, until that time please stop with all the unsupported conclusions as they are misguiding and certainly misrepresenting what really happened.
