Penn State Hit With NCAA's Punitive Hammer & Paterno's Statue Comes Down (Mitigating Lawsuit Damages)

NCAA gives Penn State 'stark wake-up call' with $60 million fine

Saying it is "a stark wake-up call to everyone involved in college sports," the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced a $60 million fine against Penn State University on Monday and took away 14 seasons of football victories from the late Joe Paterno.

The school was also banned from the postseason for four years and will lose 20 football scholarships a year for four seasons, NCAA President Mark Emmert said.

Emmert said the unprecedented fine will be paid over five years to fund programs that serve the victims of child sexual abuse.

The Big Ten Conference also acted Monday, ruling that Penn State is ineligible for its conference title football game and that the Nittany Lions' share of bowl revenues for the next four seasons -- approximately $13 million -- will be donated to charities that "protect children."

The NCAA's punishments are part of the continued fallout from the child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted in late June of 45 of the 48 counts he faced involving 10 young victims.

Read more: Penn State board member resigns over Sandusky scandal

The punishments follow an independent investigation led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, whose report held four top Penn State officials, including Paterno, responsible for failing to stop the abuse. That failure began in 1998, according to the report.

"The corrective and punitive measures the executive committee and the Division I board of directors have authorized should serve as a stark wake-up call to everyone in college sports," said Ed Ray, chairman of the NCAA's executive committee.

Penn State President Rodney Erickson said in a written statement that the university has accepted the NCAA decision and will not appeal.

"It is important to know we are entering a new chapter at Penn State and making necessary changes," he said. "We must create a culture in which people are not afraid to speak up, management is not compartmentalized, all are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards, and the operating philosophy is open, collegial, and collaborative."

Paterno, who coached at Penn State for 46 years, had been the all-time leader in major college football victories for a coach, with 409 wins. The NCAA's decision strikes 111 of those from his record, beginning in 1998.

"The NCAA has now become the latest party to accept the [Freeh] report as the final word on the Sandusky scandal," the Paterno family said in a statement Monday. "The sanctions announced by the NCAA today defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator without any input from our family or those who knew him best."

The penalties are a major blow to one of college football's traditional powers, even though the two-time national champions avoided a suspension of at least one year. The postseason ban, which is also unprecedented, could damage the school's prestige in the eyes of potential recruits and will also affect the program's bottom line through the loss of potential millions from the conference title and bowl games.

A recent university study said the football program had a $161.5 million impact on Pennsylvania in 2009. The football team made a $53.2 million profit in 2010, according to CNN Money. The school made $24 million more through general merchandise sales, CNN Money reported.

"One of the grave dangers stemming from our love of sports is that the sports themselves can become too big to fail, indeed, too big to even challenge," Emmert said. "The result can be an erosion of academic values that are replaced by the value of hero worship and winning at all cost."

The penalties also deal an emotional blow to the Penn State community, one fan said.

"By essentially taking away the main pillar of the university, you are almost pulling the university down," former student Ujas Patel told CNN. What really hurts, he said, is taking wins away from Paterno, known affectionately by fans as JoePa.

"Anybody who's gone to Penn State, that's something that really is going to bother people," he said.

A lawyer for one of Sandusky's victims said the NCAA should have heard from his client and others who were abused.

"Throughout the past several weeks, PSU and the NCAA have imposed sanctions and taken what they perceive to be corrective measures," said Ben Andreozzi, attorney for the person identified as Victim No. 4 in the Sandusky case. "I am disappointed that no effort was made to consult the victims in this case to ensure that their voices were heard in this process. After all, they are the ones who were victimized, not the NCAA or PSU. "

Emmert said current players will be allowed to transfer to other schools without having to sit out a year, as is normally required, or they can stay and keep their grants, even if they don't play football. The restrictions mean that starting in 2014, the school cannot have more than 65 players on scholarship, and it can offer only 15 new scholarships each year for four years, beginning with next year's incoming recruits.

"I knew when I accepted the position that there would be tough times ahead," new coach Bill O'Brien said in a written statement. "But I am committed for the long term to Penn State and our student athletes."

On social media, some players wrote they would return next season as a team with a mission.

"PSU vs The World - Day 1 - ," tweeted tight end Garry Gilliam.

On Sunday, the 900-pound bronze statue of Paterno was removed from its place outside the 107,000-seat football stadium. Erickson issued a statement saying the statue is being stored in a "secure location." Another tribute to Paterno -- the university library that bears his name -- will remain as it is, Erickson said.

The statue was removed exactly six months after Paterno died of lung cancer. He died less than three months after he coached his last game. Under Paterno's tenure as head coach, the Nittany Lions went undefeated five times and finished in the top 25 national rankings 35 times.

The Freeh report found that several Penn State officials concealed evidence that Sandusky had sexually abused minors. Freeh concluded that Paterno could have prevented further sexual abuse had he taken action.

Sandusky is expected to be sentenced in September. His legal team has said it will appeal the convictions.

Two former university administrators are awaiting trial for their role in the scandal, and more charges are possible as the state's attorney general investigates what Penn State may have known about Sandusky's behavior.


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Penn State Must Now Pay Damages To Victims For Cover Up Conspiracy: GUILTY!

PAY UP PENN STATE!!!

After the recent Convictions of Jerry Sandusky and Roman Catholic Church Monsignor William J. Lynn, one thing is absolutely clear about the State of Pennsylvania.

The State cares Very Little about the Well being of Low Income Children, especially BLACK Low Income Children.

And that Powerful, Wealthy, Entitled WHITE Men who reside in Pennsylvania have been Afforded the Luxury of Sexually Abusing Low Income Children without Criminal Consequences for Decades.

I don't care what anyone else says if Pres. Obama were NOT in Office, Penn. State would NOT be facing a Major Civil Lawsuit for Protecting Sandusky.

Sandusky would NOT be facing LIFE in prison for Child Sex Abuse.

Monsignor William J. Lynn would NEVER have been Convicted of Child Endangerment due to his Cover Up of a Catholic Church Child Sex Abuse Ring.

Such recent examples of Justice for Children is another reason why the GOP is trying to Destroy Eric Holder and get him FIRED.









Victim No. 6: Violation and vindication

His heart pounded under his striped, maroon polo shirt as the one they call Alleged Victim No. 6 waited in a packed courtroom Friday night to hear the verdicts in the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case.

He is 25 now, lean and broad shouldered with short brown hair and big dark eyes. For years, he struggled with the fact that Sandusky, a local football hero, crossed the line with him in a locker room shower in 1998.

No. 6 was the only one of the accusers, the so-called "Sandusky 8," to come to court for the verdicts. He chewed gum with intensity, his jaws clenching and releasing as Sandusky, looking wan and bent in a brown sports jacket, lumbered into the courtroom shortly before 10 p.m.

The jurors took their seats, looking tired and sad. One woman appeared to be crying.

The young man's mother locked fingers with him with one hand, placed the other over his forearm and her head on his shoulder. She started to cry. Soon, they would hear whether there would be justice.

Count One: Guilty of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with Victim No. 1.

No. 6 smiled.

Count Two: Guilty again, of the same charge.

No. 6 nodded, and his smile grew broader.

Count Three: Guilty of indecent assault.

And so it went. Sandusky was convicted of 45 of 48 counts against him. They covered the gamut of child molestation -- everything from oral and anal sex to corrupting the morals of 10 boys over 15 years.

As the guilty verdicts tolled, a spectrum of emotions crossed the young man's face. He closed his eyes for a while, as if deep in prayer. He leaned forward when the jury foreman finally came to Counts 28, 29, 30 and 31, the ones that involved him.

"Not guilty," the foreman said for the first count, indecent assault, and No. 6 blinked with surprise.

But then, it was nothing but "guilty, guilty, guilty" -- of unlawful contact with minors, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children.

His chest heaved, and No. 6 wiped tears from his eyes. His mother patted him on the shoulder. She looked at the jurors and mouthed the words, "Thank you."

And then, they both broke down and cried, clinging to each other as they have since May 3, 1993, the day Jerry Sandusky, then Penn State's defensive coordinator, took him into the football team's locker room showers and soaped him up.

"I don't think anybody really won," his mother said as Pennsylvania state troopers, prosecutors and agents with the state attorney general's office filed by to offer congratulations.

"I thought I'd be happy," she said, "but there's no joy. We all lost."

Lead prosecutor Joseph E. McGettigan II leaned over, said something in her son's ear and shook his hand. As if on cue, a loud cheer erupted in the square outside the courthouse. No. 6 glanced back, and then turned his head and smiled some more before collapsing into a sobbing group hug with his mother and sisters.

'I just rolled with it'

On June 14, a Thursday, he finally got to tell his story to a jury:

When he was 11 years old, No. 6 was the ultimate Penn State football fan. He met Jerry Sandusky at the charity Sandusky founded for at-risk kids, The Second Mile. He was thrilled when Sandusky paid him a little attention, asked him to come work out.

Sandusky picked him up in his car. The coach chatted with his mother for a bit about Penn State football, and then he got into the car with him.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his leg. According to prosecutors, that was Sandusky's opening gambit with the boys he molested. It was as if he was testing their tolerance for his touch.

"He reached over and put his hand next to my knee," No. 6 said. "I remember feeling that it was a little odd."

He pulled his leg away, but remembers, "I just rolled with it." After all, it was Jerry Sandusky.

At the team's locker room, he was allowed to try on the players' uniforms, their shoulder pads and their helmets. He peeked inside Joe Paterno's office and was given a pair of socks.

"I was thrilled with that," he said.

They played "Polish bowling," rolling a ball of sports tape on a hallway floor. Then, he recalled, Sandusky showed him some wrestling moves. He said it made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't protest.

"It was Jerry Sandusky," and he didn't want to make him mad, he said.

They worked out for 15, maybe 20 minutes, and No. 6 learned how to use the weight machines.

"I remember him saying. 'It's time to shower,'" No. 6 recalled, "and I wasn't even sweating yet." Again, he felt uncomfortable because only his parents had seen him naked.

Sandusky stepped under a shower, and turned on the one next to him, warming it up for the boy. He told jokes to loosen him up, calling himself "the Tickle Monster" and tickled him under the arms, and on the chest and abdomen.

The coach grabbed him from behind, in a bear hug, and said, "I'm going to squeeze your guts out."

By now, he recalled, he was getting "pretty grossed out."

He explained, "I remember seeing his chest hair right next to my face and thinking, 'This is icky.'"

Sandusky soaped him up and lifted him under the showerhead.

No. 6 said his memory went blank after that. "I don't even remember being put down," he said. "I got home somehow, and everything else just blacked out."

His mother saw his wet hair, and he told her he'd taken a shower. He went into his room and closed the door, he said. She followed him a few minutes later and "I told her bits and pieces. It really wasn't a big deal to me."

He added, "I didn't want to get him in trouble. I still wanted to hang out with him and go to the games. He told me he had a computer and he would invite me over, and I could sit on his lap and play with the computer. And I still wanted to do that."

He never did spend time alone with Sandusky.

His mother called the authorities, and Detective Ronald Schreffler investigated for the Penn State campus police. While he was being questioned, No. 6 recalled, "I felt I did something wrong. ... I was a very small kid then."

Schreffler and the boy's mother set a trap. She confronted Sandusky and allowed authorities to record the conversation. She tried to make him promise not to take showers with young boys. He wouldn't agree, and so she told him he couldn't spend time alone with her son anymore.

According to testimony, Sandusky responded: "I understand. I was wrong. I wish I could get forgiveness. I know I won't get it from you. I wish I were dead."

Schreffler testified that he felt charges should be filed, but Roy Gricar, the Centre County district attorney at the time, disagreed. Gricar later disappeared, and he was declared legally dead last year.

No. 6 said he continued to occasionally see Sandusky over the years, but was never again alone with him. He sent Thanksgiving and Father's Day cards. He had lunch on campus last year with Sandusky and his wife, Dottie.

In January 2011, the police came knocking again. By this time, he was studying at a Bible college in Colorado. He agreed to cooperate.

He thought about what happened so many years ago, things he had banished from his mind.

By this time, he said, his perception of what happened had changed.

"I saw it was inappropriate," he said. "I feel violated."

And now with a jury agreeing that what happened to him in the showers at Penn State was wrong, perhaps vindicated at last.


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Jerry Sandusky Sexually Molested His Own Adopted Son Matt Sandusky: Super Pervert!!!

I believe it is Safe to say that Jerry Sandusky is a Crazy Nut and a Sexual Pervert with a Sexual preference for Little Boys.

This Guy belongs underneath the Jail! Like Six Feet Underneath!






Sandusky's son fits pattern of other alleged victims

Jerry Sandusky's writings in a 2000 memoir about the difficult relationship with his adopted son, Matt, are similar to several letters he wrote to a boy now known as alleged victim No. 4.

Matt Sandusky, now 33, came forward this week as his father's child-sex trial drew to a close to say he, too, had been molested by Jerry Sandusky and was willing to testify.

Matt, like No. 4 and many other of Sandusky's accusers, got to know the former Penn State defensive coordinator through The Second Mile charity Sandusky founded in 1977 for at-risk kids.

No. 4, the first of eight alleged victims to take the stand in Sandusky's trial, mentioned Matt in his testimony, describing an awkward moment in the showers with the boy and his father.

"One time (Sandusky) and me and his son, Matt, had gone to play racquetball," No. 4 recalled. "Matt went into the shower, and then me and Jerry came in. (Jerry) started pumping his hand full of soap, like he was going to throw it.

Matt got out, he went to another shower." The witness was asked to describe Matt's expression.

"Nervous," he said.

The exchange raised eyebrows in the courtroom, but soon was lost in an avalanche of dramatic testimony.

Sandusky's relationships with both boys followed a familiar pattern, according to testimony and the memoir. They began as rescue missions, expectations were raised, and then they crumbled in disappointment and estrangement.

The letters written by Jerry Sandusky to No. 4 are in the jury's hands and may well hold the key to some of the most serious charges against him.

In the letters, he sometimes assumed the voice of a mentor, providing words of inspiration and encouragement. But he could also appear needy, scolding and manipulative.

At times, he sounded like a love-struck teenager weathering that first painful breakup.

Judge John Cleland allowed reporters to view copies of the letters and other trial exhibits on a big screen in the courtroom after the jury retired for deliberations. Only parts of the letters had been read aloud during the trial.

Sandusky, 68, is charged with 48 counts and accused of molesting 10 boys over 15 years. He has denied the charges but did not take the stand at his seven-day trial.

Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan alleges Sandusky used The Second Mile to troll for preteen boys to molest.

He called Sandusky "the perfect predatory pedophile," saying he groomed victims for sexual encounters in Penn State's locker room showers, hotel rooms and a waterbed in the basement of his home.

CNN does not disclose the names of alleged sexual assault victims; Matt Sandusky's name is being used because he made it public through his attorneys.

"This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt," his lawyers, Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici, said in making the announcement about Matt's allegations.

The lawyers also represent two other Sandusky accusers, referred to in court records as alleged victims No. 3 and No. 7.

In "Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story," Sandusky wrote that Matt was 7 or 8 when he showed up at The Second Mile. He said the boy "became an instant challenge for me."

As with the boys who testified at his trial, Sandusky began as a mentor and father figure to Matt -- and then the relationship intensified and ultimately soured, according to the book.

Sandusky became Matt's foster parent, and then his adoptive parent.

For a while, Sandusky says in the book, Matt turned his life around, but the relationship between the two has been strained in recent years. Matt has had his share of troubles.

According to court records cited by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Matt Heichel, as he was then known, left the home he shared with his mother, brother and sisters to live in foster care with the Sanduskys when he was 11.

But Matt attempted suicide a few months after moving in with the Sanduskys.

He also ran away from the Sandusky home and was accused of stealing.

Matt's birth mother has accused Sandusky of stealing her son from her; in his book, Sandusky characterized her as "jealous."

Later, Matt attended Penn State and was an equipment manager for the football team, according to Jerry Sandusky's book. He married in 2003, and the relationship with his adoptive parents grew strained.

That year, Jerry called police to his house and alleged Matt was trespassing.

Matt's estranged wife told the Patriot-News that Matt would throw up after talking to his adoptive father on the phone. Later, she fought in court to keep her son away from Jerry Sandusky when Matt moved back in with his parents after their marriage hit the rocks.

The eight young men who testified against Sandusky said he approached them, usually in the swimming pool, during their second year at the Second Mile program. All were fatherless boys, like Matt, and many had behavioral problems.

Sandusky used some boys simply for sex, McGettigan said in his closing argument. But others, particularly Nos. 1 and 4, were drawn into relationships, the prosecutor said.

"Creepy love letters" is the way No. 4 described Sandusky's notes to him. The undated, handwritten letters -- some several pages long -- seem to tell the story of a declining relationship.

No. 4 testified that most of them arrived when he began to withdraw and avoid Sandusky as he grew up and developed other interests, including a girlfriend.

Defense attorneys countered that the letters are symptomatic of a personality disorder that made Sandusky immature, prone to drama and unrealistic about his personal relationships. An expert for the prosecution disagreed, saying Sandusky showed signs of a "psychosexual disorder."

In the letters, Sandusky portrayed himself as a plain, simple man who cared. In one, he compared himself to the movie character Forrest Gump.

"As you know, I am very emotional and kind of let everything out!" Sandusky wrote No. 4, then 15 or 16. "I'm not good at hiding my feelings. I have many 'Forrest Gump' qualities, and I thought a lot about that movie as I was driving home.

As you would expect, I cried at that movie."

He wrote that he wished he could be more like the movie character. "I remembered Forrest and how he was so naïve (oblivious to the world) and not very smart.

He was so happy that he wasn't caught up in being anything other than a caring person."
He took on the voice of an adviser, continuing:

"As you go through life, you may have moments when you think that there is a lifestyle out there somewhere that is the answer ... I hope that in the back of your mind will be a memory of simple times, hopefully laughter, joy, and warm smiles.

Try not to ever forget all of those who care. Try to remember canoes, squirt guns, water balloons, fighting outside, miniature golf, Polish soccer, basketball, racquetball, football, swimming, studying, lifting, working, golfing, volleyball, laughing, hurting, arguing, crying, caring, and so much more fun."

He pointed out that Gump stayed loyal when others let him down "because he didn't know any better." Sandusky signed his missive, "Forrest Jer."

Another document, titled "The B-J Story," describes a relationship that blooms and then falters.

"Very few people know about this story and probably less care. I guess that I'm writing it for me. I'm Jer," he began. He wrote that the relationship grew after his own father died.

"It was a difficult time for Jer because he had lost his dad. Jer and his dad shared so much, did many things together. (No.4) comes along and he and Jer seem to enjoy the same experiences. Both seemed to be in need. They loved playing games, competing, singing, laughing, sharing experiences, just being themselves."

He continued, "Jer became attached to (No. 4) and always will be.

He and Jer played Polish Soccer, wrote papers together, rode a four wheeler even though Jer was scared to death, studied in the playground, roller skated, ice skated, jet-skied, went to a bowl game, spent days at football and soccer camp, canoed, traveled, and more.

Things got rocky, he added.

"There were ups and downs. There were arguments, fights, they cared! No matter what, there was a connection that would help them last through these difficult times."
But something came between them, "a dark cloud" that "inch by inch" took over and "smothered sensitivity and love."

He ends the letter with a plea: "Jer may not be worthy, but he needs a 'best friend.' It doesn't look real good."

His tone is scolding, accusatory, in yet another letter to No. 4:

"I write because of the churning in my own stomach when you don't care.

I write because I still hope that there will be meaning to the time we have known each other ... We seem to be a convenience. When it is inconvenient or a better deal comes along, you leave a trail of broken promises. Commitments seem to be meaningless."

"You are able to bounce from person to person, object to object.

You seek happiness through control, domination, and what satisfies the moment. You have to hit the home run, swing for the fence. You don't understand or choose not to worry about loyalty, commitment, or caring. The motivation is to get what you want regardless of others."

Sandusky also grew frustrated with Matt's ups and downs, he wrote in "Touched." At one point, Matt was considering returning to his mother's house; at another, he talked about quitting high school.

"I didn't want to lose him to whatever other fates might have awaited him," Sandusky wrote, "so I kept trying and trying to pull him in."

It did not go well at first. Matt had gotten into trouble with the law, and prosecutors were pushing to send him away.

"Subconsciously, I started to withdraw from Matt because I just couldn't deal with the hurt anymore," Sandusky wrote. "I felt we had done everything we could for Matt, and the end of our relationship was approaching. I told him there was nothing left and that we had played our last card.

I told him if he did something wrong again, he would be out of our control, and there would be nothing more I could do for him."

Then came the breakthrough Sandusky wrote he had hoped for. Matt signed a behavior and achievement contract for a Second Mile program called "Keep Climbing." It included a list of expectations and rewards.

"I ought to punch you in the nose," Sandusky said, hugging him. "You drive me nuts!"
Acccording to testimony, No. 4 signed similar contracts.

A Second Mile official testified that they weren't genuine, and No. 4 said he believed Sandusky was using them to stay in his life.

"I signed them to shut him up."


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Brian Banks Deserves 2nd Chance With NFL & Restitution Like Michael Vick (FORGIVENESS)

BRIAN BANKS SHOULD PURSUE & RECOVER ALL!

Its NOT enough for Mr. Banks to just be FREE after being Wrongfully Convicted & Imprisoned for a Rape Crime he NEVER Committed.

His Attorneys are also preparing to Sue the State of California for Restitution due to Wrongful Conviction & Incarceration.

I Concur with this Legal Action against the State of California 100%

According to his Attorneys he is Legally entitled to receive $100. Per Day for Wrongful Conviction & Incarceration from the State of California.

Considering he lost 10 Years of his Life due to NO Fault of his Own, I say He is entitled to that Money and Much, Much MORE!

TROY DAVIS was Executed by the State of Georgia NOT because he was Guilty but because they did NOT want to Pay Him Millions of Dollars for Wrongful Conviction & Incarceration.
Thus they MURDERED Troy & Stole his Organs.

As it relates to Mr. Banks' situation, No Amount of CASH can reverse the Damage done to His Life & Reputation, however a large amount of CASH will most Certainly Help him to move Forward.

Furthermore if the State of California had done their job accurately, Mr. Banks would NEVER have served one day in jail.

But since they did NOT, now its time to PAY Him in CASH!!

In addition California Law Enforcement Authorities should Prosecute his Accuser Wanetta Gibson & her Family for FRAUD & Lying to Law Enforcement Authorities because they Sued his former High School and Won a Huge Settlement based on LIES!

Has anyone notice that whenever a BLACK Citizen is Wronged by the American Criminal Justice System, Society & the Media just wants Us to FORGIVE, Forget & walk away as if NOTHING ever happened. aka "The Happy Slave" Attitude!

But Whenever a WHITE Citizen is Wronged by the American Criminal Justice System they receive a boat load of CASH, Movie & Book Deals!

While its True GOD Does want Human Beings to FORGIVE those who have Wronged them, he also Instructs Us in his Word (1 Samuel 30:8) to Pursue & Recover ALL after we have Forgiven.

So to Mr. Banks, his Family & his Attorneys I say YES Definitely SUE the State of California for RESTITUTION!

Immediately!!!

And YES Wanetta Gibson & her Family Should be Ordered to Repay the Money they STOLE from Mr. Banks High School Years ago.

Thank God He is FREE & Still ALIVE to Experience VICTORY!

Are there any NFL Teams Still Interested?

I believe BRIAN BANKS could be another Michael Vick!

So YES by all means please FORGIVE those who Wronged You but also GET YOUR CASH because you are Legally Entitled to it.

PURSUE & RECOVER ALL! HALLEJUAH!
1 Samuel 30:8

FORGIVENESS DOES NOT ELIMINATE CONSEQUENCES And When Someone Has Been Unjustly Wronged It Is Right To Expect RESTITUTION.

Even the Bible Agrees with the Premise of Restitution.

Brian Banks Deserves Another Shot At The NFL & He Deserves Restitution.
The State of California Must Pay!
His Accuser Must Also Pay!

"But if it is actually Stolen from him, he shall make Restitution to its Owner."
Exodus 22:12

“If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be Blood shed for him; for he should make full Restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his Theft.”
Exodus 22:3

“When the Savior returns, He shall ensure "the Restitution of all things,"
Acts 3:21

"Eight generations of African-Americans are still waiting to achieve their rights - compensation and restitution for the hundreds of years during which they were bought and sold on the market."
Cynthia McKinney

“We want Full Restitution ... so Black Farmers can move on with their Lives.”
John Boyd

GOD BLESS BRIAN BANKS, HIS FAMILY & THE INNOCENCE PROJECT





Exonerated football star to NFL: Give me a chance

Now that Brian Banks has been exonerated of a rape conviction that put him in prison for five years, the one-time prep football star has a message for NFL coaches: Give him a chance.

After Thursday's emotional court hearing during which Banks broke down in tears, the 26-year-old said he wants to pursue his interrupted dream of playing professional football.

Appearing Friday on NBC's "Today" show", Banks said he just wants a chance from an NFL team.

"I think that any team that gives me an opportunity will be really impressed with what I can do despite all of what I've been through these past 10 years," Banks said.

It was the plan he left outside a prison door when he pleaded no contest to a childhood friend's false accusation of rape in 2002, a claim she has now recanted.

The hearing that changed Banks' life took only minutes. Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Brentford Ferreira said his office conceded the case should be dismissed. Superior Court Judge Mark C. Kim concurred and quickly announced it was over.

One of his first moves was to report to the probation office to have the electronic monitoring ankle bracelet removed — a felon no longer.

Banks said he is ready to move forward and is trying not to be angry.

"I couldn't ask for more today," he told reporters after Thursday's hearing. "But there is always the question of why did it have to happen in the first place? Why wasn't I heard with the truth of what happened when I was 16?"

Even after he was released from prison, he could not get work because he was a registered sex offender and had a felony record.

Before the charges, Banks was a star middle linebacker at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and was attracting interest from college football powerhouses as the University of Southern California, Ohio State University and the University of Michigan, according to the website Rivals.com, which tracks the recruiting of high school football and basketball players.

He verbally agreed to a full scholarship at USC.

Then, a teenage girl he had known since childhood claimed he had raped her. He was arrested and, on advice of counsel, pleaded no contest to rape and an enhancement of kidnapping in order to avoid a possible life sentence if tried by a jury.

According to CBS Los Angeles, Banks said his defense attorney told him, "'When you go into that courtroom the jury is going to see a big black teenager and you're automatically going to be assumed guilty.' Those are her exact words."

His story is a triumph for the California Innocence Project which took up his case and illustrates the growing trend toward taking a new look at convictions. But Justin Brooks, head of the program at California Western University in San Diego, said this was the first case he had championed for someone already out of prison. He felt it was not too late to right a wrong for Banks and turn his life around.

The key, said Brooks, was the woman's admission she had lied. And it came out of the blue.

After serving five years and two months in prison, Banks was released, and a strange thing happened. Wanetta Gibson, the woman who claimed he had attacked her on the high school campus when she was 15, contacted him on Facebook and asked to meet with him.

He recalled being stunned. "I thought maybe it wasn't real. How could she be contacting me?"

He said he knew that if he became angry when he met with her it wouldn't help, so he struggled to keep calm.

"I stopped what I was doing and got down on my knees and prayed to God to help me play my cards right," he said.

In two meetings, she said she had lied and offered to help him clear his name, but there was a catch. She did not want to return a $1.5 million payment from a civil suit brought by her mother against the Long Beach schools.

She refused to repeat her new story to prosecutors but they accepted the account which had been secretly videotaped by the defense.

It was uncertain whether Gibson will have to return the money and unlikely she would be prosecuted for making the false accusation so long ago.

Gibson did not attend the hearing and she could not be reached for comment. Prosecutors and defense attorneys said they were unable to find her recently.

At the press conferences that followed the court hearing, Brooks appealed to NFL teams to give Banks a chance. He said Banks has been training six days a week to get in shape for the career he wants.

"He has the speed and the strength. He certainly has the heart," Brooks said. "I hope he gets the attention of people in the sports world."

Gil Brandt, an NFL draft consultant, said Banks would be eligible to sign with any team that might show interest. However, his years away from the game will be hard to overcome.

"History tells us guys who come back after one or two years away when they go into the service find it awfully hard," Brandt said. "And this has been much longer a time."

Brandt compared the challenge to someone who has been out of high school for years trying to get an A in their first class in college.

Banks said he is ready for the challenge.

"It's been a struggle. But I'm unbroken, and I'm still here today," the tall, muscular Banks said, tears flowing down his face.

Outside court, Banks donned a sweatshirt that read: "Innocent."


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Sources: ABC News, Black Sports Online, CBS News, Youtube, Google Maps

Brian Banks Is FREE Thanks To The Innocence Project (What About Restitution?)

BRIAN BANKS IS FREE! HALLEJUAH!

Thanks to the Innocence Project, after 10 Years of HELL & a Ruined Reputation due to the lies of a Young BLACK Woman (Wanetta Gibson) who falsely accused him of RAPE, Brian Banks a Young BLACK Man finally walks FREE.


5 QUESTIONS:

1) Will the State of California pay Brian Banks Restitution for False Imprisonment & Wrongful Conviction?

2) Will his Accuser Wanetta Gibson be Indicted for Lying under Oath to a Law Enforcement Officer?

3) Will the NFL give Brian Banks an Opportunity to relive his Dream of trying out for the NFL Draft?

4) How many more Wrongfully Convicted BLACK Men would be Released from U.S. Prisons with the help of the Innocence Project if they had more Financial Resources?

5) Why hasn't Congress taken a Closer look at how Prosecutors Abuse the Plea Bargain Process in America?
Especially with BLACK & Latino Male Defendants??

The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled to Expand Defendant's Rights regarding the Plea Deal Process.
Now what about our Corrupt Congress???

GOD BLESS BRIAN BANKS & HIS FAMILY!
GOD BLESS THE INNOCENCE PROJECT!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Brian Banks, former high school football star, asks for NFL shot

He was a high school football star in Long Beach, Calif., heading for a full scholarship at powerhouse USC when he was falsely accused of rape.

Now, exonerated after the alleged victim confessed she made up the whole story, Brian Banks has one goal: to play in the NFL.

In an appearance on the “Today” show Friday morning, the 26-year-old pleaded with any NFL coach watching the morning show to “give me an opportunity.”

“Let me show you what I can produce,” he said. “I think that any team that give me an opportunity will be really impressed with what I can do despite what I’ve been through these past 10 years.”

After being charged with rape and kidnapping in 2002, Banks took a plea deal on the advice of his lawyer to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison despite knowing he was innocent. He was sentenced to six years, ruining his football career and was forced to wear an ankle bracelet after being released on parole in 2008.

“It’s like branding,” he said on “Today”. “It’s like if someone put a brand on you: rapist.”

His accuser friended him on Facebook after he was released from prison with a strange request to make “bygones be bygones”.

With the help of a private investigator, she was recorded admitting she made the whole thing up and was reluctant to come forward because of a settlement she had reached with the school district.

With the help of the Innocence Project, Banks used the evidence to be exonerated — and on Thursday, a prosecutor moved that the case be dismissed.

Banks, video shows, broke into sobs.

“My only dream in the world was to just be free and to have the same opportunities as everyone here,” he told reporters.

Banks said he’s concentrating on moving forward with his life — and hasn’t thought about what happens to the woman who falsely accused him.

“I know it’s best for me to try and move forward in a positive manner for the betterment of me, it hurts no one but myself to hang on to the type of negative energy,” he said on “Today.”

He added he hopes that in the future, investigations will be thorough enough to avoid sending an innocent man to prison.

“I definitely feel that further investigations in cases like this are definitely necessary especially when it involves minors, children,” he said. “I think I was quick to be judged.”


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Sources: Black Sports Online, CBS News, Innocence Project, MSNBC, NY Daily News, Youtube

North Carolina's Eugenics Victims Forced To Accept $50,000. After Being Illegally Sterilized! Not Enough!

$50,000 will not make up for forced Sterilization, woman says

Elaine Riddick was a confused and frightened 14-year-old. She was poor and black, the daughter of alcoholic parents in a segregated North Carolina town. And she was pregnant after being raped by a man from her neighborhood.

Riddick's miserable circumstances attracted the attention of social workers, who referred her case to the state's Eugenics Board. In an office building in Raleigh, five men met to consider her fate.

Board members concluded that the girl was "feebleminded" and doomed to "promiscuity." They recommended sterilization. Riddick's illiterate grandmother, Maggie Woodard, known as Miss Peaches, marked an "X" on a consent form.

Hours after Riddick gave birth to a son in Edenton, N.C., on March 5, 1968, a doctor sliced through her fallopian tubes and cauterized them.

"They butchered me like a hog," recalls Riddick, now 57.

Nearly 44 years later, the State of North Carolina has proposed paying $50,000 each to compensate Riddick and other victims of its eugenics program.

It's the first state to consider compensation for victims of forced sterilization -- up to 65,000 in at least 30 states, according to most estimates.

Between 1929 and 1974, nearly 7,600 people were sterilized under orders from North Carolina's Eugenics Board. Nearly 85% were women or girls, some as young as 10. The state estimates that 1,500-2,000 of the victims are still alive.

The board's declared goal was to purify the state's population by weeding out mentally ill, diseased, "feebleminded" and other people deemed undesirable.

In a 1950 pamphlet, the Human Betterment League of North Carolina said the board was protecting "the children of future generations and the community at large," adding that "you wouldn't expect a moron to run a train or a feebleminded woman to teach school."

Life of Humiliation

Riddick has endured a lifetime of humiliation and regret. She can barely control her outrage when she discusses what the state did to her -- and what the state proposes by way of compensation and apology.

"Fifty thousand dollars?" she says, her voice rising. "Is that what they think my life is worth? How much are the kids I never had worth? How much?"

The $50,000 compensation recommended Jan. 10 by the Governor's Eugenics Compensation Task Force must be approved by the state Legislature. If so, Riddick said, she will refuse it.

"Fifty thousand dollars isn't nearly enough to bury my pain," she says. "It's shut-up-and-go-away money."

Dirt poor and pregnant, she dropped out of school in the eighth grade. After she gave birth, her son was put in her grandmother's care, and Riddick was sent to live with an aunt in New York.

At 18, she married a man she met there. When he discovered she had been sterilized, Riddick says, he abused her. They later divorced.

Riddick struggled for years to shed the "feebleminded" label stamped on her records. She earned a high school equivalency and a degree in human services from a technical school in New York. For years, she was an office manager for a tax preparation company.

She traveled regularly to North Carolina to visit her son, Tony, and the boy went to New York every summer to spend time with his mother.

But the stigma of her forced sterilization still clings to her. Now remarried and living in Atlanta, she dreads returning to Perquimans County in eastern North Carolina, where everyone knows the details of her wrecked childhood.

"What must they think, reading what the state wrote about me?" she asks.

Legal Action

Between 1929 and 1960, twice as many white people as black were sterilized in North Carolina, according to Eugenics Board records. But between 1960 and 1968, when Riddick was sterilized, twice as many black people as white were sterilized.

Riddick was 19 when she discovered, during a medical examination, what had happened to her. She was devastated, for she had always intended to have several children.

Outraged, she contacted the American Civil Liberties Union in North Carolina, which filed a lawsuit on her behalf in 1974. The suit accused the Eugenics Board, social workers and the local hospital of unlawfully depriving Riddick of her right to bear children.

Riddick became one of the state's first sterilization victims to go public. "Nobody knows the pain and humiliation I had to go through," she says.

In 1983, a jury ruled in favor of the defendants. The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Riddick's appeal.

In 2010, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue established the Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation. In June, Riddick testified before the task force.

"I am not feebleminded -- I have never been feebleminded," she told the task force. “They slandered me,” she said of the Eugenics Board, which put her IQ at 75. “They ridiculed me and they harassed me.”

A social worker threatened to take away her grandmother’s state food rations if she did not sign the consent form, Riddick says.

Tony Riddick, now 43 and an entrepreneur in the eastern North Carolina county where he was born, says what the state did to his mother is a crime. “This is not sterilization,” he told the task force in December. “This is genocide.”

In a recent interview, Tony Riddick said he supports his mother’s intention to refuse $50,000 in compensation.

“It’s a political game, and it’s an insult,” he said.
North Carolina is one of about half a dozen states to acknowledge or apologize for sterilizations.

Dr. Laura Gerald, a pediatrician who heads the eugenics task force, said the five-person body sought to strike “a fair balance” between victims’ rights and political realities when it approved the $50,000 figure on a 3-2 vote. (Two members voted for a $20,000 payment.)

Several victims requested $1 million in compensation, Gerald said in an interview. “On the other hand,” she said, “there has been little political will for anything other than an apology.”

Then-Gov. Mike Easley issued a one-sentence apology in 2002. He called sterilization a “regrettable episode” and assured victims that “we will not forget what they have endured.”

Elaine Riddick says no apology can erase the fact that the Eugenics Board treated a 14-year-old rape victim like a criminal. She says she was provided no explanation and no follow-up care.

“Because of Elaine’s inability to control herself, and her promiscuity — there are community reports of her ’running around’ and out late at night unchaperoned — the physician has advised sterilization,” the board reported, according to minutes unearthed by the Winston-Salem Journal in 2002.

The board went on: “This will at least prevent additional children from being born to this child who cannot care for herself, and can never function in any way as a parent.”

The words still stab at Riddick. “I was just a child who was raped,” she says, “and then the state raped me all over again.”


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Sources: Free Republic, USA Today, WCNC, Google Maps

Duke LaCrosse Case vs Tracey Cline: NC Holds Grudge Against 1st BLACK, Female D.A. (Extreme Racism!)

Why is North Carolina's First BLACK, Female District Attorney (Tracey Cline) being attacked by the regional Legal System she works for?

Is it due to Tracey Cline's ties to the infamous Duke LaCrosse Case and because she dared to help a troubled, BLACK, Young Woman who in fact may have actually been Sexually Assaulted but did NOT have the Money, nor the Political Connections to Accurately & Properly defend herself Legally?

Possibly.

The Alleged Victim/ Accuser Crystal Mangum is now Imprisoned in North Carolina for LIFE, probably being Drugged daily by State Penal Officials so she won't TALK and... is also probably being Raped by Men (Prison Guards) & Female Inmates.

I was NOT at the location in North Carolina several years ago when & where the Alleged Sexual Assault of Crystal Mangum took place.

The ONLY people who REALLY knows what actually occurred that night are Crystal, her Female Friend, the College Students present & more importantly GOD!

For Everyone else its just Speculation & Heresay.

Its also NO Secret that North Carolina's SBI DNA Lab was later discovered to be Extremely Corrupt due to Witness Tampering by Racist SBI Lab Employees.

So we may NEVER know what REALLY happened!

Just because a North Carolina Court cleared those Duke LaCrosse Players, ONLY God knows what REALLY Happened!

Just because NC Attorney General Roy Cooper cleared those Duke LaCrosse Players, ONLY God knows what REALLY Happened!

Just because those Duke LaCrosse Players won a Civil Lawsuit, ONLY God knows what REALLY Happened!

Those Duke LaCrosse Players were Young, WHITE Guys from Very Wealthy East Coast Families.

They had the MONEY to Clear their names.

The Alleged Victim/ Accuser Crystal Mangum did NOT have such Luxury.

Am I implying NOTHING happened that night of the Alleged Incident/ Crime?

NO!

SOMETHING Did Happen but ONLY God & the people involved will EVER know the REAL Truth!

However what is True is that EVERYONE involved with the Duke LaCrosse Case with the exception of the Players, has been Destroyed or is being Destroyed.

Former NC District Attorney Mike Nifong is ruined for LIFE!

Alleged Victim/ Accuser Crystal Mangum is ruined for LIFE!

Now North Carolina's Extremely Biased Leaders (Including Many Very RACIST Democrats) are attempting to ruin Tracey Cline for LIFE as well!

Tracey Cline is being Retaliated against & Victimized by SCARED BLACK, North Carolina Leaders.

As it relates to Tracey Cline’s situation local BLACK Leaders are secretly complying to the desires & orders of North Carolina’s WHITE, Racist Establishment.

You see if those BLACK Leaders refuse to Comply with NC's WHITE, Racist Establishment, they too will be ruined for LIFE!

This entire situation further proves North Carolina's Institutions (Legal, Education, Finance, Tax Revenue, Medical, etc.,) are still being ruled by the Klu Klux Klan and 21st Century Extreme RACISM!

Another example:

For Decades North Carolina's Social Workers & Physicians Forced BLACK Women & Girls To Suffer Unnecessary Illegal Sterilization.

As a Resolution to that Heinous practice how do North Carolina's Leaders (including Bev Perdue) plan to Remedy this problem?

By Offering the Survivors a measly $50,000!

$50,000 for Racism, Being Used as Medical Guinea Pigs, Humiliation & Physical HELL!

What A Shame!

Whenever BLACK People in North Carolina attempt to Speak out against that State's Historic, EXTREME Racial Injustice those Outspoken BLACK Citizens lose EVERYTHING Materially, they go Missing, end up DEAD, are thrown in Mental Institutions or they are Sentenced to Prison for LIFE on Trumped up Criminal Charges!

Is This The 21st Century? YES!

Is This North Carolina In The 21st Century? YES!

This is why I am Supporting BARACK OBAMA again this FALL!

God Help Us All!

For We Shall All Reap What We Have Sown!

Please Continue to Pray for Me, Pray for God to Expose the TRUTH about North Carolina’s Institutionalized Racism & for God to remove those Leaders who are practicing or allowing Racism to continue in that state.

In Jesus Name. Amen.







Durham DA suspended from duty

A Franklin County Judge decided Friday to suspend Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline from her duties pending a hearing next month.

Cline's accusations of bias against Durham County Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson put her own performance under scrutiny in recent months and led one defense attorney to push for her ouster.

Defense attorney Kerry Sutton filed an affidavit that alleges Cline has "brought the office of the Durham County District Attorney and the entire Durham County justice system into disrepute."

The filing is the first step required by law to remove Cline from office.

On Friday, Sutton said, “It’s an on-going process, and by the time we get to the end everyone has a chance to make their case.” She and Cline will get that opportunity Feb. 13.

Cline has repeatedly accused Hudson in recent months of bias against her and has asked to have him barred from handling criminal cases in Durham County. Two other Superior Court judges have found Cline's complaints to be groundless.

Hudson, the chief judge in Durham County, handed the complaint over to Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood, who on Friday suspended Cline with pay.

Marcia Morey, a former assistant district attorney in Durham and current District Court Judge, said “It’s a sad day for Durham. The justice system is supposed to be working for the people of this county."

The clash not only puts Cline on the sidelines, it could cause chaos in her office, according to Irv Joyner, a law professor at North Carolina Central University.

"You have a feud or an attack involving the top two elected officials in our court system here, and that does not look good," Joyner said. "It's not good for our profession nor is it good for Durham County."






Prosecutor in Duke Case Is Suspended

Michael B. Nifong, the disbarred district attorney of Durham County, N.C., was served an order at his home yesterday that suspended him from office and was told to turn in his parking pass and office key.

The suspension order, served by the county sheriff, cut short Mr. Nifong’s plans to stay in office four more weeks. On Friday he announced plans to resign, and on Saturday he was disbarred by a state ethics panel. He then told the governor he would resign July 13.

The ethics panel ruled that Mr. Nifong had made inflammatory remarks, withheld DNA evidence and misled a judge in the case of three Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of sexual assault.

The county’s senior judge, Orlando F. Hudson Jr., said Monday night that those findings allowed him to suspend Mr. Nifong immediately, with pay, for willful misconduct and bringing the office into disrepute.

Beth Brewer, a Durham resident who led a campaign opposing Mr. Nifong in the 2006 election and who had filed a petition for removal with Judge Hudson, said she was “flabbergasted” and “appalled” that Mr. Nifong had showed up for work Monday and tried to delay his departure.

Mr. Nifong declined to comment. His wife, Cy Gurney, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Nifong, 56, would have left earlier if Judge Hudson had talked to him. She said he learned about it from a newspaper and was stunned and further humiliated. She said Mr. Nifong had wanted to stay until July 13 to assure an orderly transition.

“I think it’s the end,” Ms. Gurney said. “He understands that and he wants that.”

Gov. Mike Easley will appoint a successor. Also, the state House of Representatives voted unanimously yesterday to allow the governor to remove a disbarred judge or district attorney from office.





Cline takes reins as Durham DA

A longtime NC Prosecutor took the oath of Durham County district attorney Monday, becoming the first black woman to hold the post.

Tracey Cline, a sex crimes prosecutor in the 14th Judicial District for more than a decade, won the district attorney position during the May primary with 46 percent of the vote, beating out three other Democratic challengers.

Because no Republican sought the position, she ran uncontested during November's general election.

Cline replaces David Saacks, whom Gov. Mike Easley appointed to the position in September 2007 to serve out the remainder of former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong's term.

Nifong, who was at Monday's ceremony, resigned two months earlier in July after being disbarred for breaking more than two dozen rules of professional conduct for the way he handled the Duke University lacrosse case.

It centered on three players of the school's highly ranked men's team who were accused of raping an exotic dancer.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper later dismissed the case and declared the three men "innocent victims" of a prosecutor's "tragic rush to judgment."

Cline said Monday that she is ready to take on the challenge of overcoming the scandal, which put the Durham District Attorney's Office under public scrutiny.

Durham County, she said, is ready to move forward and as district attorney, she said she can help do that.

"Being a prosecutor is not about power, it's about doing the right thing," Cline said. "You don't have to be popular to be DA. You have to do the right thing, and that's what people are looking for. And I'm going to do that."

During her campaign, Cline said the Duke lacrosse case was one of thousands the district attorney's office handled and that although it did not define the office, it is a part of the city's history.

"I don't think we can separate ourselves from it," she said in an April interview. "I think we can learn from it and move on."

Among her family, friends and colleagues were Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin, who served for 11 years as district attorney before being appointed to a judgeship in 2005.

Hardin said Cline – his first hire as district attorney – is hardworking and that he is very pleased that she will serve in the position.

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, who administered the oath of office, said Cline, as a young public defender in Fayetteville, stood out to her when she served as a District Court judge because of her thoroughness and ability to think on her feet.

Meanwhile Monday, Saacks was also presented with an award from the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys for what director Peg Dorer said was bringing an even keel to the job.


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Sources: ABC News, Fox News, HuffPost, McClatchy Newspapers, NY Times, Wikipedia, Winston-Salem Journal, WRAL, Youtube, Google Maps