The Penn State Scandal and Joe Paterno: Slow Down

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Chris Fusco

 

Once again a major scandal has broken out in sports and once again I find myself giving the same unsolicited advice: slow down. I know that many major media outlets and some in NYC talk radio hosts have already pronounced the Penn State administration and former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky guilty of horrific crimes but for now remember they are all maintaining their innocence.

Even if a set of allegations look really bad (and they do), we still must cling to notion of innocent until proven guilty. Also be mindful that crimes involving child victims can be very complicated and difficult to prove.

As for Joe Paterno, I have heard media commentators accuse him of committing "crimes" in this scandal. Given the information currently known, what exactly would these crimes be? And you can't make up crimes here, you actually have to look at Pennsylvania law. Today, Pennsylvania prosecutors said that Paterno is not a target of their investigation. That representation should mean something to the media.

Now, Joe Paterno may not have committed any crimes and may have done his "duty" by reporting his knowledge of alleged Sandusky's abuse up the broken chain at PSU but that doesn't mean that Paterno is not guilty of moral failure. When someone commits a crime, he has failed to comply with the laws of society. But when someone commits a moral failure (which may not be criminal), he has failed to comply with the laws of common sense.

Again, given the public information, it appears that Paterno should have done more, maybe a lot more. Given what he knew, he should have gone the the police when PSU failed to take action. Paterno should have kept Sandusky far away from PSU facilities and NEVER allowed him to have children on campus. Paterno should have acted with outrage and urgency. But he didn't.

These failures are not against the law but may be against what is right.

 

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