Did you know that ESPN sued Michigan State?

ESPN sued the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University for not releasing material; both cases are pending on appeal.

Giant Moose wrote:

ESPN sued the University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University for not releasing material; both cases are pending on appeal.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13065247/college-athletes-major-programs-benefit-confluence-factors-somes-avoid-criminal-charges

Michigan State might prove an example of what happens when everyone is afforded the same legal counsel; students there can get a free defense attorney through the school's student legal services.

As a result, East Lansing Police spokesman Lt. Steve Gonzalez said, a lot of Michigan State students get attorneys for even the most minor cases, such as a ticket for having alcohol in public. And those same attorneys show up on athletes' misdemeanor cases.

When Outside the Lines analyzed the results of case dispositions involving Michigan State students compared with a set of East Lansing cases involving college-age males, there appeared to be no discrepancy like those seen at Florida State and Florida. About 62 percent of MSU athlete cases resulted in no record, dismissal or plea to a lesser charge of civil infraction; among the comparison set, it was 66 percent.

LANSING – The Michigan Court of Appeals sided with ESPN Inc. in a public records dispute with Michigan State University over the release of names of student-athletes.

In September 2014, ESPN submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to MSU for incident reports involving 301 student-athletes. The university responded to the request with two sets of records but redacted the names of student-athletes listed as suspects, witnesses or victims, according to the Court of Appeals’ opinion released Wednesday.

ESPN sued MSU in Ingham County Circuit Court and in March, Judge Clinton Canady ordered the university to release the names of the student-athletes if they were identified in the reports as suspects, according to the opinion. Canady didn’t order the release of the names of victims or witnesses, citing privacy exceptions in the law.

MSU appealed Canady’s ruling.

The Court of Appeals affirmed Canady’s order, saying he didn’t abuse his discretion when balancing interest in how MSU police handle investigations of student-athletes and the student-athletes’ privacy.

“ESPN seeks the information to learn whether policing standards are consistent and uniform at a public institution of higher learning,” the unanimous decision said. “The disclosure of the names is necessary to this purpose.

“In order to determine whether the student-athletes were treated differently from the general student population ... it is necessary to know the student-athlete’s name and the nature of the allegations involved in the investigation.”

The opinion said that even if the release of the names is considered a “revelation of information of a personal nature,” the revelation is not unwarranted because it allows investigation of how MSU handles the cases.

“We are pleased with the appellate court’s decision to uphold the public’s right to open records, and we continue to report on this story,” David Scott, an ESPN spokesman, said in an email.

Kent Cassella, a university spokesman, declined to comment beyond saying, in an email, that MSU is aware of the Court of Appeals’ opinion and “is reviewing the decision before considering possible next steps.”

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2015/08/19/court-sides-espn-public-records-dispute-msu/32013325/

SpartanInNH wrote:

Giant Moose wrote:

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13065247/college-athletes-major-programs-benefit-confluence-factors-somes-avoid-criminal-charges

Wut the Feezey???????

Michigan State might prove an example of what happens when everyone is afforded the same legal counsel; students there can get a free defense attorney through the school's student legal services.

As a result, East Lansing Police spokesman Lt. Steve Gonzalez said, a lot of Michigan State students get attorneys for even the most minor cases, such as a ticket for having alcohol in public. And those same attorneys show up on athletes' misdemeanor cases.

When Outside the Lines analyzed the results of case dispositions involving Michigan State students compared with a set of East Lansing cases involving college-age males, there appeared to be no discrepancy like those seen at Florida State and Florida. About 62 percent of MSU athlete cases resulted in no record, dismissal or plea to a lesser charge of civil infraction; among the comparison set, it was 66 percent.

steveschneider wrote:Here's a flow chart of my opinion on this thread:

ESPN ------------> makes us look good -------> I approve
 |
 |
\ /
Makes us look bad ----------------> FUCK ESPN