Judge Sets January Trial In Suit Over Penn State Fine
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A lawsuit by a state senator and the state treasurer over the NCAA's $60 million fine imposed on Penn State for its handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal could go to trial early next year.
Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey on Wednesday scheduled the case brought by Sen. Jake Corman and Treasurer Rob McCord for a Jan. 6 trial.
Covey ordered that discovery should be completed by early September.
Last month, Commonwealth Court required that Penn State be made a party to the lawsuit and indicated the court needed more information about whether the university and NCAA acted legally when they entered into the consent decree.
Penn State filed an answer in the case a month ago that said described the consent decree as "an obligation with which the university has fully complied and is fully committed to continue to comply."
The lawsuit seeks to enforce a law passed last year that requires the fine to be spent on battling child abuse within Pennsylvania.
Corman is a Republican who represents the State College area, while McCord, a Democrat, recently lost in his party's gubernatorial primary.
Along with the fine, the consent decree also imposed a four-year ban on post-season play, a temporary reduction in scholarships and the elimination of 112 wins by the football team.
Sandusky, the school's former longtime assistant football coach, was convicted in 2012 of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and is serving a decades-long state prison sentence.
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