[Quote: Originally Posted by ApocalypseLater] a list of some of the people who are being penalized by this:
- Taxpayers of Pennsylvania
- Current students of Penn St, such as law students, music students, engineers, etc.
- Local business owners
- Current football players
- FORMER football players
- Future students of Penn St
what do all of these people have in common? none of them are guilty of having any involvement with the actual crime that was committed...
someone said "You cannot say that just because on university is bigger then another they should get a lesser penalty."...
of course, i didn't say anything about the university being bigger, or that being a reason on which to base the judgment... size has nothing to do with it... we are talking about the impact that the university has on the local economy, and even the state! we're talking about the extent to which innocent lives are adversely affected by the decision... and YES, you can base your judgment on that... in fact, if you are not basing your judgment on that, what kind of a statement are you making, when on the one hand, you are making a declaration about ethics and morality, and on the other hand, you are giving no consideration to the human impact of your judgment?
i mean... what the fuck is wrong with people that they don't think this matters? do you realize that you are saying that some guy who owns a memorabilia shop, or a hotdog stand, should not be taken into consideration when you make a decision that affects an entire community of people (none of whom did anything wrong!)... ?
seriously dude! what the fuck are you thinking?
[/Quote
Lets say a person owns a billion dollar company. Now, just like the univ of penn state, the president, the cfo, and a top representative are guilty of criminal negligence for 14 years. That company would be closed down within days and the public outcry for more would be huge.
No matter what business goes down there is always someone that loses a job.
But the company has to pay. you have said what all the companies around them have to pay, but yet to say what penalty the school has to pay. The university has been criminaly negligent for 14 years. What penalty would you have it pay. If it were a major corporation they would have to shut there doors and all their employees would have to find new jobs.
There is not a criminal lawyer around that does not agree with me and say that they got off easy.
Even the supreme court sides with me.
I understand but you forget, everytime a company has an owner, ceo, or president of that company do anything wrong and the company gets penalized, everyone in that company suffers. It is the risk you take for working there. Same here. Even though the students and some of the current faculty was not there or aware of the infractions they are still collateral damage so to speak.
The Supreme Court said in the ruling on the health care issue said it best as it applied the law, "the law cannot in any way be swayed by how it affects the people, it can only be concerned about making sure the law is handed out as it is written."
They were criminally negligent for 14 years. In any other business the business would be closed down and all the employees would have to go to work for someone else.
Also remember, this was not just a football issue. There were others outside the football program at PSU that knew about this and did nothing.
Ask any lawyer or the president of your company and tell them what would happen to that company if the top people in the organization were criminally negligent in a child molestation case and every one of them would say the company would no longer in existance.
The supreme court even agrees. "The outcome of the rule cannot be based on how many people the rule affects. The rule must stand alone and cannot be influenced in any way on the consequences that others may incure". That has been the standard of law since Justice Brandise wrote it.