NCAA Says Pennsylvania Wants to Filch Its $60 Million Child Abuse Endowment
Pennsylvania on Wednesday passed a law intended to steal $60 million from a Penn State University fund to help victims of child sex abuse and dump it into the state treasury, the NCAA claims in Federal Court.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association sued Gov. Thom Corbett Jr. and three other state officials, claiming the state's money-grab, "Act No. 1 of 2013," violates the Constitution's Contracts and Commerce Clauses. The money stems from Penn State's settlement of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.
Pennsylvania calls its new law the Institution of Higher Education Consent Decree Endowment Act aka "the Act of February 20, 2013, Act No. 1 of 2013." It allows the state to grab the $60 million that Penn State will put into the fund for victims of child abuse, and give it to the defendant state treasurer. The NCAA filed its lawsuit the day the act was codified into law.
The NCAA claims that Act No. 1 is intended "to disrupt interstate commerce by attempting to legislate where private parties spend their money, and to confiscate funds intended for the victims of child sexual abuse nationwide to be used solely for the benefit of Pennsylvania residents, at the direction of Pennsylvania officials." It adds: "The Act, by its terms, purports to permanently appropriate to the Pennsylvania Treasury the full $60 million dollar fine, even though the contract requires that the penalty be paid into the NCAA's endowment."
Gov. Corbett sued the NCAA in January, claiming it "exploited" the Sandusky child abuse scandal to impose "crippling" sanctions on Penn State University.
Corbett said in his complaint that the NCAA was using the case of the serial child molester to "force the university to endure harsh, unjustified, and unprecedented punishments."
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/02/21/55034.htm
Republican logic in action
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