Judge Tosses Lawsuit By Governor Tom Corbett Against NCAA
By David Madden
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett's bid to get sanctions imposed by the NCAA against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case dropped has been dealt a blow by a federal judge in Harrisburg.
The NCAA imposed, and Penn State accepted, a $60-million fine and a four-year ban on postseason action for the football team (see related story) long before Sandusky, a former assistant coach, was convicted of sexually abusing young boys (related story).
Corbett filed an antitrust lawsuit in January seeking to lift the sanctions, but that suit has now been dismissed by District Judge Yvette Kane, who ruled that there is no legal basis for the suit. In deciding to throw it out, she labeled the governor's action a "Hail Mary pass."
The NCAA, in a statement, says it hopes the decision will "serve as the beginning of the end of the divide among those who, like Penn State, want to move on."
Corbett, in his own statement, insists the issues raised in the suit "deserved a complete and thorough review by the court" and says he's reviewing his options.
Penn State was not a party in the suit.
Sandusky, a former university assistant football coach, is serving a decades-long prison sentence for child molestation.
