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Should Joe Paterno stay or go?

Should Joe Paterno stay or go?

  • He should stay, he wasn't involved.

    Votes: 3 5.8%
  • He should stay, he did what his part by reporting it to somebody.

    Votes: 8 15.4%
  • He should go, he didn't do enough.

    Votes: 36 69.2%
  • He should go, he's ultimately responsible no matter what.

    Votes: 4 7.7%
  • I have no clue. Fill me in.

    Votes: 1 1.9%

  • Total voters
    52
What would you do if you found out about someone you work with who was raping children?

If I found out in the exact same circumstances? I tell whoever told me that they needed to call the cops and then I'd ask them why they didn't have the nads to stop it.
 
If I found out in the exact same circumstances? I tell whoever told me that they needed to call the cops and then I'd ask them why they didn't have the nads to stop it.

I would assume they didn't have the nads because they didn't give a **** - and I'd do the right thing. I wouldn't ask them to do the right thing, I would assume that responsibility and make them participate.
 
I would assume they didn't have the nads because they didn't give a **** - and I'd do the right thing. I wouldn't ask them to do the right thing, I would assume that responsibility and make them participate.

Truthfully, I would probably assume that since they stood and watched, they probably got off on it a little bit. I'd tell them that if they didn't call the cops, I was going to and I was going to accuse them of being an accessory after the fact.
 
Grand Jury info: http://media.philly.com/documents/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf (WARNING: EXPLICIT)
DON'T read it if you have a weak stomach. It's awful. I hesitate to even pass it around, but it's part of the public record, now. Paterno knew, at least to some extent. He reported it, but not to the police. A bunch of people turned a blind eye. What is wrong with people? If you see something wrong - stop it from happening!
Holy crap. No one bothered involving the police for quite some time. A lot of heads should roll. A lot.
 
he is the one who witnessed the act. his is the ultimate responsibilty to report it.
According to the PA law, ( and common sense), everyone who heard about it had a responsibility to inform the appropriate agencies. None of them did.
 
Holy crap. No one bothered involving the police for quite some time. A lot of heads should roll. A lot.


especially McQueary's and his daddy's. but, of course, they aren't famous and don't make nearly as interesting headlines
 
If I found out in the exact same circumstances? I tell whoever told me that they needed to call the cops and then I'd ask them why they didn't have the nads to stop it.
And you would continue to work with the perp in question as if nothing had happened?
 
especially McQueary's and his daddy's. but, of course, they aren't famous and don't make nearly as interesting headlines
Why McQueary's dad? Isn't he in the same category as Paterno in you book?
 
The emotional rush to judgment in this thread is quite fascinating... and a perfect example why emotion should be severely limited, if not entirely eliminated, from legal and non-legal justice.

I tend to agree with Oscar, though not entirely. The people who say and/or imply that Paterno did nothing are absolutely factually wrong. The question is, did he do enough? Now I read that the DA did hear of it, somehow, and that they chose to do nothing. Yet some people are foaming at the mouth that a DA was contacted instead of the police. As a friend of mine used to say, that's picking bird **** out of horse ****. It's not the military, there is no proper "chain of command", and any charges would have gone through the DA anyway. If the DA thought it worthy, they could have referred it back to the police.

People are emotional because kids are involved. I get that. Don't let your emotion cloud your otherwise good judgment. Don't be willing to hang 100 people in the hopes you get the relative few who actually are responsible for prolonging the situation. That may feel good in the short run, but that's not justice, either.
According to the GJ report, informing the DA isn't what PA law requires. They all had a legal obligation to notify the Department of Public Welfare within 48 hours.
 
exactly, all this anger directed at Paterno and hardly any directed at the one guy who could have actually done something about it. My question is, how long did the guy wait before he told Paterno about it? I haven't seen a timeline of the events. was it the same day? was it the next day? was it the next week?
Why should Paterno be excluded from the "anger" ?
The Grand Jury report has been linked to in this thread if you're interested, it's one of the early posts
 
I think he should have been allowed to retire. He didn't do enough, but he's 84 years old with a proud record and he didn't deserve to be shouldered with disproportionate blame. I hate the abuse, but there are so many other decisions in play that it just reinforces the fact that Joe Paterno is a football coach, not a professional counselor and he's also not perfect. He has been the only class act in the whole incident. He hasn't tried to cast blame elsewhere, nor complained about his treatment. He's just tried to get on with life with this huge turd crowding his lane.
 
It just appears that everyone did the least they had to do required by law to cover their own asses and hope that the alleged perpetrator never got caught so the school and all involved didn't get hung out to dry.
They failed in that even. They did not comply with the law according to the GJ.
 
According to the PA law, ( and common sense), everyone who heard about it had a responsibility to inform the appropriate agencies. None of them did.

wrong. I wish people would stop saying that nobody reported this

On November 7, Pennsylvania state police Commissioner Frank Noonan said that Paterno fulfilled his legal obligation to report suspected abuse,
 
I do believe that Joe Paterno should most likely retire due to age, not this scandal of which he is not guilty of doing anything other than reporting it to the wrong people.
I think he did what he was required by law to do. Whether he stays or goes makes no difference to me, he did what he had to do, arguing that he should have done more is a judgement call, not a legal call.
Apparently it's not that he reported it to the wrong people, he failed his affirmative legal duty to report it to the right people.
None of that whole crew did what they were required to do by law.
 
Apparently it's not that he reported it to the wrong people, he failed his affirmative legal duty to report it to the right people.
None of that whole crew did what they were required to do by law.

not according to the state police commissioner
 
I know this is an emotional issue, but that is no reason to resort to falsehood. Paterno told his boss the AD who reported it to the authorities.
That depends on how one defines "authorities." The GJ found that the school did not report it to the people they were legally obligated to report it to.
 
Yes, it was the bare minimum required of him.
Paterno did the bare minimum of what was required of him, and that was it.
the Grand jury disagrees with this assessment.
 
I'm thinking we need to wait until all the information has been gathered before making any definitive statements. I'm betting that this gets really ugly and that nobody is going to end up trying to defend anyone involved.
There's already been a Grand Jury investigation.
 
If Paterno had a moral obligation to report the incident to the cops, why didn't McQueary's father (who knew about it 10-12 hours before Paterno) have the same obligation?
Did someone say that he didn't?
 
Did someone say that he didn't?
no, in fact the hypocrites were in such a rush to crucify Paterno that McQueary's father was never even mentioned. even though he was the first one to be informed.

McQueary's father should have insisted that his son call the cops that night and not allowed him to wait until the next day to tell Paterno. but let's forget about that and hang Paterno for not doing enough
 
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wrong. I wish people would stop saying that nobody reported this
I didn't say that they didn't report it. I merely repeated what the Grand Jury investigation said which is that it wasn't reported to the appropriate agencies.
If you know more about the affair than the GJ, please share how you came to be so informed.
 
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