Justice
Sobering Lessons from the Firing of Joe Paterno
I must admit that Coach Joe Paterno–a football coaching legend at Penn State for the past forty-six years–has been a hero of mine for decades. When he became PSU’s coach in 1965, I was just entering my junior high school years when sports was very important to me.
Coach Paterno made a deep impression. He seemed to be fair, disciplined, a man of integrity and faith, and he produced a great football program. In 2011 he became the winningest coach in all of Division I football history. In an age of slick and arrogant coaches, Joe Pa seemed to be the “Gold Standard” of steadiness and grace.
So when I heard he’d been fired because of some child abuse charges being leveled at a former assistant coach, I inwardly reacted like many Penn State students did. I thought to myself, “Discipline the offender but spare Coach Joe Pa!”
But I was wrong. Joe Paterno needed to go.
Here’s why–and many other things we can learn from the Penn State fiasco.
There was one primary reason I was wrong about Coach Paterno’s firing. I didn’t have the facts. You will never have good judgment about a person or event if you don’t know the truth.
For a few days I sympathized with Coach Paterno and felt that he should stay. Why should a legendary coach be punished for the sins of an assistant? We’d been told in the beginning that Coach Paterno had done his legal obligation. We were also told that he was not under investigation.
So I thought “Just let him finish out the year and then he can step down gracefully.”
One day later the Penn State board of trustees fired him.
How could that be? Was it fair, or just a knee-jerk reaction to an unpleasant situation?
Then I read the state grand jury report–in its entirety. I found it on-line and it came with a disclaimer that the contents of the report were graphic and needed to be looked at with caution.
They were right to warn us. The report turned my stomach.
But the truth set me straight: Joe Paterno needed to be fired.
If you have any doubts, here is the link to the damning realities that took place at Penn State from 1994 to 2009. Before you go there, let me lay out the basic scenario for you.
On November 5, 2011 former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, a one time heir apparent to Coach Paterno, was arrested and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on forty criminal charges. The grand jury report states that he raped and abused young boys between the age of ten and fourteen from at least 1994 to 2009.
Some of the serial sex abuse of minors took place on the Penn State campus and in its training rooms. At this point there are eight victims that have come forward. There may be many more.
All of Sandusky’s victims were recruited through a charity he had established called The Second Mile for children from foster or dysfunctional homes. Instead of helping these kids, Sandusky abused and used them for his own sexual pleasures.
In 1999, Sandusky retired from his Penn State duties but still held emeritus status at the college and had access to the athletic facilities. In the fall of 2000, a janitor walked in on Sandusky having sexual contact with a young boy called Victim 8. The janitor reported it to other janitors but a police report was never filed.
On March 1, 2002, a graduate assistant named Mike McQueary (who was on the Penn State coaching staff until forced to take a “leave of absence” just a week ago) saw a naked boy of about ten years old called Victim 2 being sexually assaulted by Sandusky in the Penn State shower room. McQueary was distraught and reported the news to Coach Paterno the next day.
On March 3, Joe Paterno called Tim Curley, Penn State’s athletics director to his home and reported a version of what his grad assistant had told him. Later in the month, McQueary was invited to a meeting with Curley and Gary Schultz, senior vice president for finances and business. The grad assistant reported what he had seen and Curley and Shultz said they would look into it.
On March 27, 2002 McQueary was informed that Sandusky’s locker room keys had been taken away and that the incident had been reported to The Second Mile (Sandusky’s charity). McQueary was never questioned by campus police and heard nothing about any follow-up until he was called to testify before the state grand jury in December, 2010.
Sandusky continued to seduce and rape young boys in his College Township home from 2002-2009. Finally, a boy named in the report as Victim 1, who was eleven or twelve when he met Sandusky, told authorities through a counselor that Sandusky inappropriately touched him several times in a four year period.
In September 2010 Sandusky retired from day to day involvement in The Second Mile charity.
Last week he was arrested, Curley, Schultz and Paterno were fired, McQueary was put on administrative leave, and the Penn State nightmare exploded on the national stage.
All because of one pedophile monster–who has ruined the lives of maybe dozens of young children–and because no one was willing to step forward and do what was right.
There are many sobering things we can learn from the Penn State debacle and actions that must be taken for the university to move forward:
1. We all must be willing to speak out and go to the police when we see a crime being committed. Child rape is a crime–one that can devastate a child for life. There were many people in the Penn State orbit who miserably failed to do their duty–including Coach Paterno. They may have reported what they saw to superiors above them, but that wasn’t good enough. They may have been legally right, but failed the moral test. We need to speak up against sin so that others cannot be hurt.
2. In our sex-crazed society, we must realize that pedophilia and many other sexual sins are not okay–they are brutal and traumatic to individuals and our nation as a whole. Especially the sexual exploitation of children–which takes many forms today including child trafficking and prostitution. We must repent of our sexual debauchery and especially work hard to protect the children.
3. We must admit that power and profits and not more important than individual lives. Each year the Penn State football program nets over 50 million dollars for the university. The athletic director and the vice president for finance did not want to get involved because they were afraid of losing money and prestige. Now they will lose scores of millions of dollars in future civil lawsuits. Your greed will find you out.
4. It takes a lifetime to build a good name, but it can be destroyed through one lapse of judgment. Joe Paterno is a great coach. But his legacy has now been tarnished forever. No matter how many games he won or the character he exhibited during a half century of coaching, it is all scarred now by one colossal act of mis-judgment. He should have followed up with his superiors. Kids were being raped! He should have gone to the police. Rather, he did his nominal part and walked away. It will cost him his legacy.
5. Penn State should release its entire football coaching staff and start over with a new group. It also might be a good idea to voluntarily restrict themselves from post-season play for a year or two to re-establish credibility in the eyes of the public. Some are calling for the shutting down of the football program for a period of time. That wouldn’t be fair to the current players. They shouldn’t suffer for the sins of Jerry Sandusky. However, there must be a house-cleaning to restore the PSU name and brand. That will take some wisdom, integrity and time.
I am really saddened by this story of sexual abuse and cover-up in the sports world. However, it does give us all a good opportunity to look in the mirror.
Most of us think we are pretty good people, or that we’ve been redeemed by God’s grace. But maybe some are harboring secret sins and moral miscalculations that God’s “grand jury report” will one day make plain to the world (it’s called Judgement Day).
When the facts are seen–the truth will be clear about our lives as well.
Only through Christ can our “good name” (and future) be restored.
(Click here to read the grand jury report on the case against Penn State.)
Getting Away With Murder–And What We Can Do About It
I followed closely “the trial of the 20th century”– the O.J. Simpson murder case–and more recently the “trial of the 21st century” involving Casey Anthony and the death of her daughter, Caylee.
When the jurors reached the Simpson verdict in 1995, I was traveling with a friend out of state. When the media announced the arrival at a verdict, we high-tailed it to a television set where we eagerly awaited the outcome.
Last week was similar. When I heard on the radio that the Casey Anthony verdict would be announced at 11 am, I arranged my schedule to tune in. Both Shirley and I watched in silence as the decision was read to the nation.
My reaction to both verdicts was the same—stunned disbelief with knots in my stomach. In both cases, I agree with a majority of people that a murderer was set free and an innocent victim denied justice.
It’s time to make some changes in the criminal justice system.
I have some recommendations.
First, let’s re-visit each gut-wrenching case. In the OJ Simpson trial, as in most murder trials, there were no eyewitnesses but loads of circumstantial evidence. Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were cruelly killed with a knife in cold blood—her throat slit and his body slashed. The evidence clearly pointed to Brown’s estranged husband, O.J. Simpson who had the motive, the erratic behavior, and various clues that pointed his direction.,
The case ultimately hinged on a bloody glove–that was linked to the crimes–being found on Simpson’s Belmont estate.
The jurors had this decision to make: Either O.J. Simpson killed his wife and Ron Goldman, or a sinister detective planted evidence to make it look that way.
These were the only two reasonable choices.
Bad cop or guilty O.J.
The jurors in the O.J. trial chose the bad cop theory and claimed racism was behind the “planted evidence.”
We all screamed that they were wrong and that it was a travesty of justice.
Now there is the Casey Anthony acquittal. Anthony’s three year-old daughter, Caylee, was found dead in December 2008 in a swamp near the Anthony home. Casey was the last person to be seen with Caylee on July 15, 2008. Her death was clearly a murder because duct tape was found on her mouth and nose (skeletal remains) and her lifeless body had been placed in two plastic bags and a laundry sack and tossed into a swampy woods.
There were other forensic clues. A chloroform search on a computer, the duct tape linked to Casey’s house, the smell of death in the trunk of her car, and a strand of hair consistent with Caylee’s also found there. But the forensic case wasn’t a slam dunk–and dueling experts came to different conclusions.
To me, there were two damning pieces of evidence that put this case beyond a “reasonable doubt.” First was Casey’s behavior after the little girl’s death. She had failed to report her daughter missing for thirty-one days and partied virtually the whole time. Grieving mothers don’t celebrate and have tattoos put on their shoulder that say “Bella Vita” (Beautiful Life). She then lied about a fictitious nanny who was supposed to be watching the child, about a rich boyfriend, and about where she worked.
Over time, Casey Anthony proved to be a pathological liar.
Probably the most “honest” moment of the trial was hearing Casey’s mother, Cindy, react in a 911 call to her first suspicions of what had happened to Caylee. When Cindy realized her granddaughter had been missing for over a month, Cindy called 911 in clear distress with these chilling words:
“I can’t find my granddaughter. She (Casey) just admitted to me that she’s been trying to find her herself. There’s something wrong. I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”
Casey had abandoned her car in a parking lot. The stench of death reeked from the trunk.
I know the smell of rotting flesh, having experienced it a few times when I’ve been around deceased corpses. Human decomposition is a unique and horrific smell–and you never forget it.
In this moment of tearful honesty, Cindy Anthony had discovered the truth: She suspected her own daughter was responsible for killing their granddaughter. During the trial, though the forensics were debatable, the circumstantial evidence was glaring. Casey was the the last person with Caylee; Chloroform computer search; Duct tape from the home; Abandoned car with the smell of death; Partying for thirty days while the little girl’s body rotted; Lying to everyone about everything.
However, during the trial, Casey’s defense lawyers were successful in fabricating theories and blaming others for Caylee’s death. They said that the Anthony home was dysfunctional. They blamed the murder on Casey’s father, George Anthony, who they claimed had abused Casey as a child, was an adulterer, and may have helped cover up or participate in the death.
But their biggest smokescreen, shared in opening arguments, was that Caylee’s death was an accident that went “terribly wrong.” They offered zero proof of this theory. It also made no sense. Why would a child’s accidental death place her in a bag with duct tape and send the mother out partying for a month? When a child accidently dies, you call the police, you grieve, and you have a memorial to honor the loss of the precious life.
You don’t party, lie, and cover up.
Yet, incredibly, when two of the jurors spoke about the verdict afterwards, they both had apparently bought the “accident” theory. As to Casey partying for a month, one of them said, “Yeah, that was bizarre.”
No, it was evil–and they weren’t able to see it.
Like most of America–and the world–I’m deeply troubled by both of these verdicts that made a mockery of justice. As a biblical Christian, I’m committed to seeing God’s will “down on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). That will includes God’s passion for justice.
Yes, it’s inevitable that in a fallen world mistakes will be made. I believe the Casey Anthony jurors were sincere when they came up with their verdict. I really don’t blame them.
But eternity will reveal they were wrong. A murderer was set free. A little girl was treated unjustly. And all of America was taught that if you’re a good enough liar you can beat the system. That alone will produce terrible consequences in the coming years.
I hope we use the OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony travesties of justice to make some changes to our criminal justice system. Here are some recommendations:
1. Don’t permit the rejection of potential jurors due to their moral principles or faith. I was once rejected from a jury because I was a “Christian who was pro-life.” The defense lawyers didn’t want principled, moral-thinking people deciding their case! They wanted to bamboozle fuzzy thinking, immoral people. Free societies–which ought to be tried by citizen juries–a Constiutional right–can only stay free when people of faith and morality serve. For those quick to say that our Constitutional system worked in the Casey Anthony trial, I would remind you of the words of John Adams: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Same with juries.
2. Don’t force jurors to deal with the finer nuances of law or sentencing. Part of the problem in the Anthony case was obvious confusion over whether they should convict, beyond a reasonable doubt, of Murder One, Manslaughter, Child abuse, etc. That shouldn’t be the jury’s job. Let them keep to the basics. Was a murder committed by a certain party? Then leave the sentencing or type of murder to legal professionals (a judge or judges) who can give the proper sentence for the crime.
3. Don’t allow defense lawyers, or prosecution teams, to present “theories” to the jury that they are not required to back up. If they state a theory, they must present evidence to confirm it. If they don’t attempt to do so, they lose the case or are disqualified from finishing the proceedings. This will stop a lot of “lawyer lies.”
4. Beyond a “reasonable doubt” does not mean beyond a “shadow of a doubt.” There will always be some doubt where evidence of terrible crimes is limited. It was totally reasonable to believe, based on the circumstantial evidence, that O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony committed murder. Much greater clarity of understanding is needed here.
5. We should also re-examine whether our laws against self-incrimination promote justice. In the Bible, people suspected of various crimes were required to testify themselves as to their innocence or guilt. This testimony is extremely valuable. It certainly would have convicted O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony. Does pursuing true justice require honesty, from all parties involved?
6. We need to be much swifter in dispensing justice. The Bible is very clear on this point. Long trials and years of appeals dull the heart and mind and lead to poor decisions. They also lead to more crimes being committed because of the lack of swift justice which is a restraint on evil.
7. Television crime shows have falsely given the impression that all cases can be solved by forensics–or that they are the key to convicting people. No–circumstantial evidence is extremely important. In the death of Caylee Anthony, DNA could not be found due to exposure to the elements for six months. But the circumstantial evidence overwhelmingly pointed to Casey Anthony as the killer.
Erick Erickson of redstate.com shared some of the wiser words on the Casey Antony verdict:
“Casey Anthony got off because she worked the system. In a fair and impartial court system this happens. It’s too bad. But the worst part of this is the idea that we can take the denial of justice for a toddler who was brutally murdered and use it to pat ourselves on the back about what a great society we are.”
“Are we a great society because a young, damaged single mother who claimed her own father molested her left her daughter with him to go drinking? Are we a great society because we produce people who would rather go to wet t-shirt contests than look for their missing children? Are we a great society because our citizens try to frame innocent people for crimes they didn’t commit? Or are we a great society because people like that can find a way to get off?”
“The Casey Anthony verdict doesn’t endorse our criminal justice system; it exposes our crumbling society. The courts can’t always dispense justice, it is up to society to protect our children. We need to bring back public shaming, we need to bring back the idea of moral responsibility separate from legal responsibility.”
We need a renewal of our society–including the vital areas of law and justice.
Let’s pursue it, for Caylee’s sake.
Also for the needed re-birth of the fear of the Lord in our land.