OT: Michigan Court of Appeals sides with ESPN in lawsuit v. Michigan State re: athlete arrests/incidents
The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court's ruling that compels the Michigan State University Police Department to release public records involving MSU athletes to ESPN.
ESPN filed a public records request in September 2014 seeking incident reports involving Spartan football and men's basketball players from 2009-2014. The university released certain records but removed the names and identifying information about suspects, victims and witnesses, citing privacy laws.
ESPN and investigative reporter Paula Lavigne sued in February, seeking the release of all information requested. A trial court ruled in ESPN's favor -- compelling the release of suspects' names -- but exempted identifying information from witnesses and victims, even if they were athletes. But MSU appealed the decision, saying the lower court did not properly apply the privacy exemption as required by state law.
On Monday, the appellate court agreed with the lower court's initial ruling, noting: "The disclosure of the names of the student-athletes who were identified as suspects in the reports serves the public understanding of the operation of the university's police department. ESPN seeks the information to learn whether policing standards are consistent and uniform at a public institution of higher learning. The disclosure of the names is necessary to this purpose."
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13471092/michigan-court-appeals-…
Story on same subject from the Lansing State Journal:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2015/08/19/court-si…
August 20th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^
intentions were with that little girl because no one knows and I don't care, but if her life was made the least bit better because he took the time to spend with her, than it was worth it. Don't conflate issues and demean the good someone has done because they may have also done something despicable. While there are degrees of good and bad, we are all capable of both: The prettiest people do the ugliest things and vice versa. God knows how I would handle the spotlight. If Appling and Payne raped someone(s), than they deserve whatever comes out, but don't try to demean what good someone did for a little girl with cancer.
August 20th, 2015 at 9:33 PM ^
I'm not disputing that the act itself was good (for the little girl), just that it was transparently selfish and calculating. And I didn't neg you, fwiw.
August 21st, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^
I didn't neg him either, but I think we can demean people who only do visits like Payne's (i) when there are rape accusations swirling, and (ii) in front of the camera.
So yeah, I'll demean Payne's act (even while hoping it was a comfort to the girl and her family). I've been on kid's cancer floors too many times, and the majority of the visits don't play out like PR stunts. (Some superstars do these visits and shun publicity while doing it, which is really cool to see.)
August 21st, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^
August 21st, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^
You would never accuse a Michigan player of using a cancer kid as a prop. And if you did, you'd deservedly be sent to Bolivia. The hypocrisy is unreal and so is the lack of shame in it.
August 21st, 2015 at 2:30 PM ^
If there was substantial evidence that a Michigan player was using a cancer kid as a prop, I would accuse the player of using a cancer kid as a prop. Especially if the media was fawning all over the player, and he was befriending the kid just as rape allegations were surfacing.
But apart from that, you're right. I would otherwise never accuse a Michigan player of using a cancer kid as a prop. Or a player from any other school for that matter.
So I'm just not seeing the hypocrisy in that position (esp. in light of the fact that I've been one of the more vocal critics of Gibbons, Lewan, Clark, etc. on the board). Read the police report, and then let me know if you think Payne deserves the halo that ESPN et al. put on him.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
records being made public absent a conviction.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
Absolutely agree. Notwithstanding MSU's wagon-circling tendencies, we have to remember that there is no public good in universally revealing the names of suspects in open cases.
August 20th, 2015 at 6:03 PM ^
There is specific language in the MI FOIA law that exempts disclosure of information on criminal cases that are still 'under investigation' or 'open'. If they were investigated and closed without prosecution, they are fair game to be disclosed under FOIA. Also, the statute of limitations would likely cover most of the criminal prosecutions in this time frame as well, making prosecutions extremely unlikely and thus FOIA disclosable .
August 20th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
If you're an adult, your arrest records become public knowledge. A lot of Michigan players have been dragged through the mud and it's only fair that MSU players who do the same get the same treatment.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
Tough week for a lot of former MSU players. First the Ashley Madison leak, and now this....
August 20th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^
What does one have to do with the other?
August 20th, 2015 at 4:38 PM ^
I'm slow today, but I still don't get it...
August 20th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 10:12 PM ^
Oh, so I thought I didn't get it, but I actually did get it, but it was just a lame joke so I thought I didn't get it.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^
I think the joke is "People who use Ashley Madison are bad, and so are people involved in MSU athletics!" As far as I know from reading about the hack lately (not married, so not looking for an affair on AM), it's mostly full of fake profiles of women and the pathetic men trying to sleep with them.
August 20th, 2015 at 6:57 PM ^
this....
August 20th, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
MSU had better hope to hell the local media stays dormant and doesn't start researching the names Ashley Dowser and Elizabeth Ann Huxley.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:39 PM ^
Or...... some dawkins cat could just reach out the local media to make sure they have all the information on Ashley Dowser and Elizabeth Ann Huxley that they need......
August 20th, 2015 at 4:48 PM ^
The info has been out there for a couple years, but there's such an MSU bias among local reporters (most of them were trained there) that they won't touch a potential powderkeg story like that one. It would probably take a national witer (like ESPN's Paula Lavigne, perhaps?) to expose it. I find the timeframe specified in ESPN's request noteworthy (2009-2014) since 2009 is when the incident is alleged to have happened (although it wasn't known until 2012).
August 20th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^
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August 20th, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^
I don't really want to get into the specifics on this board since the nature of the allegations (and more importantly, what they led to) are pretty disturbing. There's enough info here already to assist anyone interested in Googling what occured.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:57 PM ^
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August 21st, 2015 at 12:16 AM ^
August 21st, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^
Tons of MSU fans claim the media is in the bag for UM. Far less UM fans claim vice versa, although you are definitely one of them. Related, most fans feel television commentators are rooting for their opponent in the heat of a game.
What do all these people all have in common? I'll take a remarkable lack of intelligence for a thousand, Alex.
August 20th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^
To hate MSU.
August 20th, 2015 at 6:09 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 6:53 PM ^
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August 20th, 2015 at 4:47 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 5:13 PM ^
The media tends to go after coaching regimes (not schools in general) since there has to be a target/villain. Urban hasn't been at OSU long enough yet, so most of what might come out of an investigation like that would just get blamed on Tressell, who nobody gives a shit about anymore. They did a story on Urban a couple years ago on all the player arrests while he was at Florida. Give it a couple years and they'll hammer him for his time at OSU too.
August 20th, 2015 at 6:42 PM ^
I think UM fans hoping for some kind of story about MSU athletes getting favorable treatment from law enforcement are going to end up very dissapointed. An ESPN OTL article from June noted that 62% of athlete cases resulted in no record, dismissal or plea to a civil infraction compared to 66% of non-athletes. I would link the story but I can't get it to work.
....I don't think MSU should be releasing the names of people with no record. I can support the "public good" angle, but not at the expense of ESPN potentially damaging the lives of innocent people.
August 20th, 2015 at 9:19 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 11:20 PM ^
August 20th, 2015 at 8:58 PM ^
So you are telling me that Izzo does not run a squeaky clean program like everyone else claims he does?
August 20th, 2015 at 9:31 PM ^
August 21st, 2015 at 12:32 AM ^
August 21st, 2015 at 9:39 AM ^
First off, the Michigan Supreme Court, and not the US Supreme Court, has the final say on what Michigan law provides, so this would never end up before SCOTUS. Second, MSU has 21 days to file an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court, but the Michigan Supreme Court chooses which cases it will hear (there's no right to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court like there is to the Michigan Court of Appeals), and this particular case is not the kind that they're likely to hear.