He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat. Leviticus 16:7-10Two stories are worth consideration. They mark the next stage of a morality tale that started with Pennsylvania's efforts to respond to the horrible events that eventually resulted in the conviction of a member of the Penn State Football coaching staff for immoral acts against children. They remind us of the complicated relationship between the state, its institutions, and the people who populate both in the shadows of law and justice.
The stories touch on the recent decision by a judge to overturn the conviction of former Penn State President Spanier of his conviction for misdemeanor child-endangerment, the only charge that the state was able to secure a conviction in the long and tortuous process of finding administrators to bear the responsibility for failed institutional duty. In commentary I note merely remarks made April 13, 2012: Penn State’s New Reality; Reflections by the Penn State 2011-2012 Fellows--Four Lessons Learned About University Governance in Crisis.
Judge throws out ex-Penn State president’s conviction
A federal judge threw out former Penn State President Graham Spanier's misdemeanor child-endangerment conviction on Tuesday, less than a day before he was due to turn himself in to begin serving a jail sentence.
The decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick in Scranton, Pennsylvania, gave state prosecutors three months to retry Spanier under the state's 1995 child endangerment law, the version in place in 2001.
Joe Grace, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said the decision was under review. Spanier's defense lawyer, Sam Silver, declined to comment.
Mehalchick agreed with Spanier that he was improperly charged under a 2007 law for actions that occurred in 2001, when he was responding to a complaint about former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky showering with a boy on campus.
"Spanier submits that this retroactive application is unreasonable and far more extensive than anyone in 2001 would have been able to reasonably foresee," Mehalchick wrote. "The court agrees."
Spanier had been due to report to jail early Wednesday to begin serving a minimum sentence of two months, followed by two months of house arrest.
Spanier, 70, was forced out as Penn State president shortly after Sandusky was arrested in 2011 on child molestation charges. A year later, Spanier was accused of a criminal cover-up, although many of those charges were dismissed by an appeals court. The jury acquitted him of what remained by the time of his trial, except for the single count of child endangerment.
Lisa Powers, a university spokeswoman, said Tuesday that Spanier remains a tenured faculty member on paid administrative leave.
Spanier's lawyers argued that the application of the law to acts that occurred years before the measure was passed violated the state and federal constitutions' ban on retroactive application of criminal laws. The child endangerment revisions in 2007 applied the law to those "employing or supervising" people who were responsible for the welfare of a minor child.
But the judge did not agree with their argument that the statute of limitations had been improperly applied.
Prosecutors had argued the 1995 and 2007 versions of the law encompassed and criminalized the same conduct.
Spanier was convicted for how he and two of his top aides decided to respond to a report from graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary that he had seen Sandusky abusing the boy late on a Friday night in a team shower.
Spanier has said the abuse of the boy, who has never been conclusively identified, was characterized to him as horseplay.
Spanier and two of his top lieutenants, former athletic director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz, agreed to notify The Second Mile, the charity for at-risk youth where Sandusky met many of his victims, but not to call police.
Spanier gave his approval to his deputies in an email, warning that "the only downside for us is if the message isn't 'heard' and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it."
Curley and Schultz were also charged criminally for their actions regarding Sandusky, but on the eve of trial they both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment and testified for the prosecution. Both have since served similar jail sentences.
Spanier did not testify at his trial and told the judge at sentencing that he regretted not intervening more forcefully.
Sandusky is doing 30 to 60 years in state prison and recently won an order for a new sentence.
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‘No one is above the law.’ AG plans to appeal decision to overturn Spanier’s conviction
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro plans to appeal a federal judge’s decision to overturn former Penn State President Graham Spanier’s child endangerment conviction, according to a press release from his office.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick dismissed Spanier’s conviction Tuesday, one day before he was scheduled to report to jail to serve his two-month sentence. Shapiro called her decision “last-minute and highly unusual.”
“Graham Spanier ... was personally advised that children were being sexually abused on school property,” Shapiro said. “Evidence proved he chose not to help the children, but instead to cover up the abuse, despite being well aware of his responsibility as a supervisor.”
In her ruling, Mehalchick agreed with Spanier that he was improperly charged under a 2007 law in connection with actions that occurred in 2001, when he was responding to a complaint about former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky showering with a boy on campus.
She also gave Shapiro’s office three months to retry Spanier.
“As the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has made crystal clear, Spanier’s conduct was illegal,” Shapiro said. “The Office of Attorney General will quickly appeal this ruling to hold him accountable for his conduct covering up child sexual abuse. No one is above the law.”
Spanier’s defense attorneys, Sam Silver and Bruce Merenstein, said in a statement that they were “dismayed” by Shapiro’s decision to “blatantly and prejudicially misrepresent facts” in announcing his intent to appeal.
“Contrary to Attorney General Shapiro’s statement, there is no evidence that Graham Spanier was personally advised that children were being sexually abused,” Silver and Merenstein wrote. “And Attorney General Shapiro knows that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made nothing ‘crystal clear’ about Spanier’s conduct, as it did not hear this case on the merits at any time.”
The two said they were “stunned” that Shapiro accused Spanier of a cover-up.
“We will continue to defend Spanier against this overzealous and unlawful prosecution,” Silver and Merenstein said. “And we will continue to do so in the courts, where the dispute belongs — and not through hyperbolic statements like that of the attorney general.”
Spanier, 70, was removed as university president shortly after Sandusky was arrested in 2011 on charges of child molestation. Spanier was charged one year later, accused of covering up the abuses.
He said Sandusky’s actions were characterized to him as horseplay, though he told the sentencing judge he regretted he “did not intervene more forcefully.”
Spanier had remained free on bail since the 2017 conviction. He also continues to be a tenured faculty member on administrative leave, according to Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers. His salary — like other faculty members’ — is confidential, she said Tuesday.
The university declined to comment on Mehalchick’s ruling or Shapiro’s announcement because the case is still pending, Powers said Wednesday.
Two of Spanier’s top lieutenants — former vice president Gary Schultz and former athletic director Tim Curley — both pleaded guilty to child endangerment charges. They have since served their respective jail sentences.
Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator for former coach Joe Paterno, was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. The state Superior Court in February ordered he be resentenced, but denied him a new trial.
Sandusky is detained at the Laurel Highlands state prison in Somerset County.
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