Monday, June 5, 2017

Ethics Commission tells Ole Miss to produce records & names in NCAA case.

The Mississippi Ethics Commission told Ole Miss that it must provide the names of boosters who were named in an NCAA Amended Notice of Allegations.  The Commission sent a preliminary report and recommendation to Ole Miss last Friday.  Steve Robertson of Scout.com had filed a complaint with the Commission after the university refused to provide him with a copy of the amended notice. The Commission will adopt the recommendations if neither party objects or after a hearing is  held.

The NCAA sent a Notice of Allegations to Ole Miss in 2016.  Such notices contain allegations of wrongdoing and the findings of an investigation.  Ole Miss released the 2016 notice but redacted the names of all students and boosters cited in the notice. It contained 28 allegations.   However, Ole Miss did not release the amended notice it received in February 2017.  Mr. Robertson covers Mississippi State University athletics for Scout.com.


Mr. Robertson submitted a public records request to Ole Miss on February 23, 2017 for the amended notice.  Ole Miss staff attorney Steve Jolly responded in a March 6 email that Ole Miss did not have a copy of the records.  Ole Miss actually claimed that it did not possess the records because its outside counsel had them.  Mr. Robertson filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission on March 10.  Ole Miss responded to the complaint and said that releasing the amended notice with the unredacted names of the boosters would violate their privacy.

However, Ole Miss apparently intends to produce the amended notice:

1.11 On May 12, 2017, the university sent correspondence to the Ethics Commission confirming the university determined the invasion of privacy issues were no longer present and that the university
intended to produce the notice of allegations and the amended notice of allegations with only student information redacted. The university's correspondence included the following explanation:

"Since UM submitted its response to the public records complaint, the above-mentioned concerns have waned. The NCAA investigation has concluded and the other affected parties have been afforded the opportunity to review the allegations. As discussed above, UM plans to publicly release the 2017
Amended NOA, along with UM's response to the 2017 amended NOA, the week of June 5, 2017. When it does so, and consistent with UM's commitment to transparency, UM will not redact the names of third parties. At that time, UM will also publicly release a version of the 2016 NOA with the names of third parties un-redacted."
 The Ethics Commission tabled the complaint as it appeared Mr. Robertson will obtain the documents he requested from Ole Miss.  However, the Commission still had a few things to say about the matter. 

2.4 A notice of allegations which is addressed to the head of a public university, here a chancellor, concerning the university's athletics program is a public record under the broad definition provided in Section 25-61-2. It is of no consequence to the outcome of this particular case that the university directed the NCAA to provide the notice or the amended notice directly to outside counsel rather than to the chancellor. Based on the record in this case, each notice of allegations is a public record which should have been produced to Robertson within seven working days from the receipt of the public records request, unless the university obtained an extension of time as provided in Section 25-61-5(1 )(b). The Public Records Act does not allow the university to delay production past this time for investigative purposes as urged by the university.....

2.11 Based on the record in this case, the notice of allegations and amended notice of allegations involve matters of legitimate public concern which outweigh any right of privacy, if any, which extends to the boosters who are alleged to have been involved in NCAA rules infractions. Therefore, the university cannot redact the names of boosters who are named in the NCAA's notice of allegations or the amended notice of allegations based solely on privacy concerns.....

and spanked Ole Miss a little for violating the public records laws:

3.1 The Commission should find The University of Mississippi  violated  Section 25- 61-5, Miss. Code of 1972, by failing to provide a copy of the notice of allegations and the amended notice of allegations within seven working days from receipt of the public records request.

3.2 The Ethics Commission should find that under the specific record in this case The University of Mississippi violated Section 25-61-5 by redacting the names of boosters from the 2016 notice of allegations before producing a copy of the notice.

3.3 The Ethics Commission  should order The University  of Mississippi  to produce a copy of the 2016 notice of allegations and the amended notice of allegations redacted as necessary to fully comply with federal education privacy laws or any other statutes or case law, but that any athletic booster names shall not be redacted solely due to the right of privacy. The university's production shall occur within seven working days from the university's receipt of a final order in this case.
The preliminary recommendation also allows a John Doe booster to provide a written response.  John Doe filed a motion in Hinds County Chancery Court on May 23.  He asked the Chancellor to stop Ole Miss from releasing the names of boosters cited in the notices.  The petition also sought to have the entire case sealed.  The Commission's preliminary finding states that the Chancellor denied the petition although there is non record of a decision in the public court file.  Mr. Doe withdrew his petition on May 26.  See earlier post.

A hearing is tentatively scheduled for  June 27, 2017 at 10:00 AM if either Mr. Robertson or Ole Miss objects to the preliminary recommendations.  Ethics Commission opinions are not binding and carry no force of law. 




34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ole Miss uses its lawyers to protect rogue boosters who helped them land top recruits because they want them to do it again.

Anonymous said...

I don't see why they don't want their names printed. It'll be like street cred amongst them.

Anonymous said...

So when do the names go public?

Anonymous said...

Where is the Clarion Ledger? They have ignored virtually every Ole Miss NCAA thing. One Call That's All holding the advertising strings?

Anonymous said...

Why don't you try reading the paper every now and then you moron.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/columnists/kellenberger/2017/02/22/kellenberger-ole-miss-getting-hammered-ncaa/98272060/

Anonymous said...

The State Ethics Commission is about to find out how irrelevant it is. Makes as much sense as the State Ethics Commission telling Shuler Smith to straighten his ass up and fly right. Wasted paperwork.

Anonymous said...

A layman without a lawyer kicked the ass of ole miss and it's gaggle of lawyers. Can ole miss win anything anymore?

Anonymous said...

Somebody wake me up when these contemptible pieces of $h!+ drop the obfuscation and subterfuge and disclose the damn NOA without redaction. Hell, they've been peddling their "we can't wait to give our side of the story" bull$h!+ for damn near 2 years. EIGHT level ones, bearz. EIGHT.

Anonymous said...

June 5, 2017 4:56pm

Anonymous.... it is 21 (TWENTY-ONE) level 1(one) violations.....
Don't leave out the LOIC

Anonymous said...

To 6:18, 5:39 here. The 8 level ones is a reference to the number of level one violations attributable directly to His Holiness, the Right Reverend, Father Beaver Himself. 8 Level Ones, you bunch of prissy ass boat shoe wearing knob slobbers.

Anonymous said...

It is not 21 level one violations. Total witch hunt. A sponsor takes a kid hunting is a level one. Come on ! But at Baylor rapes and such ...no peep of anything.

Freezus, sweetest name I know said...

The booster who took Austin Golson hunting committed a level 2 infraction. Small potatoes

Try again.

Anonymous said...

@8:03 and doctoring ACT tests is bs? But I forgot everyone is doing it.

Anonymous said...

55-20- that's kinda like what cranked them up to 'live on the level one side'...

Anonymous said...

Kingfish you just love a cat fight don't you? You know them State fans are going to throw dirt and light fires..

Anonymous said...

Don't anybody get too upset one way or the other about this. If the NCAA only found the few boosters whose names were redacted in that 1st NOA, and even if a like amount are found in the 2nd NOA, there is no way in hell that Ole Miss will be diminished in anyway whatsoever. The NCAA has not even scratched the surface of the Network. It is as close to a RICO enterprise in college sports as the Clinton Global Initiative was to politics. The Bears will not (indeed, have not) missed a beat---it is still business as usual for the Bears. So don't lose any sleep over Ole Miss and the NCAA.

That. Is. All.

Anonymous said...

State fans should probably switch hands. They're all likely to develop carpal tunnel if they don't.

lol at little brother. look at how rustled they get when someone mentions Ole Miss.

Anonymous said...

Who is this ms state fan Robertson making the freedom of information requests? That's some serious infatuation with your rival there.

Anonymous said...

State fans obsessed? ha. Reminds me of the entire UMAA Juco fan base jumping through their asses when MSU got probation four years ago for a cheap infraction. No argument, no prayer cloths passed around, admitted fault and fired the asst coach. That bunch of OM taco eaters was laying green-turd cable all across the campus and through every town in North Mississippi and every law office between Southaven and D'Iberville. Chortling bunch of swamp rat bears. Now they want to mumble through their spittle about MSU supporting action against the corrupt Revrunt. Just ask him to resign and move the hell on. The longer you support his corruption, the more you show your true colors. Take a dump where it deserves to be taken and it ain't in Starkville.

Anonymous said...

When all else fails, Ole Miss fans throw out the little brother card. I wonder what it feels like sitting around waiting on whats about to drop while "little brother" is extending their baseball season and playing for a chance at ANOTHER trip to Omaha. Give me that little brother stuff all you want to. Ole Miss had to make up a "tradition" called beer showers to build some kind of relevance on the diamond....and it's still not working.

It's arrogance like 10:35's comment that make State Fans want to see this ship sink.

Anonymous said...

99% of the allegations are small potatoes. rides to games, letting a player hunt on his land ( this is Mississippi you know) chicken fingers, a homeless player sleeping on a coaches couch for a few nights. Ok there was $800 to a players stepfather and he kept an old beater loaner too long. The allegations from one player that signed with another school will come back to bite that other school. Face it, OM was not buying players. I just don't get the hate from some against these young men who play for OM. this is not world politics. Its a game. Sadly, some wrap up their whole life meaning in a game.

Anonymous said...

Little brother ties their whole existence to big brother falling.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how the possibility of athletic punishments has brought out this dogged attitude of defiant entitlement in OM's fan base. It's shocking to see this behavior from a group of mostly honest, goodhearted, "rules are rules", Republican values kind of folks. A state institution using a massive amount of public resources to cover up dishonest deeds shouldn't be tolerated by anyone.

Anonymous said...

Attn 8:38 you are naive if you think "99%" of the allegations are small potatoes. Please share with us where you got this insider information.

Anonymous said...

Rebel nation's rhetoric is just like those "SEC, it just means more" commercials, but without any of the dominance the SEC enjoyed over the last 10+ years. State fans may be beating the NCAA drums the loudest due to proximity, but every fan base in the southeast is enjoying the dumpster fire in Oxford. Yall really think the national AP articles on Yahoo and USA Today are being written just to make the Bulldogs happy?

Anonymous said...

It won't be long until all those liberal arts majors and out of state students from up north enrolled at Ole Miss tell you that calling MS State little brother is insensitive or whatever those snowflakes up there would call it. #wintheday

Anonymous said...

Hearing lots of optimism in Oxford. A certain witness's story has crumbled. Some down the road a very very worried.

Anonymous said...

Small Potatoes? So happens the NCAA rules are bagged by weight. So, there are single potatoes in the produce area, five pound bags of potatoes, ten pound sacks and 20 pound boxes.

The KY-Greased-Faithful like to imagine that all of the NCAA's rules that were broken are of the single potato variety, just small ones.

The evidence already rolled out reveals quite a variety of infractions sorted by weight and level. Sorry, Faithful....that's just the way it is. Get a loaded baked-one for lunch.

There was life before Revrunt Freeze and there will be life AFTER Revrunt Freeze, regardless of what your smack site is telling you.

Anonymous said...

10:47, you appear to be a very sick man. Freeze's outspoken Christianity will bring him rewards in heaven though now he is a target of Satan.

Anonymous said...

Kingfish, it may have already been mentioned by someone else but Robertson isn't seeking an opinion. He is seeking an enforcement action which is binding under the law.

Anonymous said...

11:35, 1 Corinthians 3:10, et seq., warns us to build on the foundation that is laid, which is salvation through acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. We are warned to build on that foundation using materials that are eternal (gold, silver, precious stones) and avoid the materials that are worldly in nature and have no eternal significance (wood, hay, straw). We are warned that what we build will be tested with fire to determine that which is eternally significant and that which is worldly and useless. That which survives the test of fire will be our reward. Like any beaver you've ever seen, they have a tendency toward wood. Your beaver-toothed head coach likes wood, bro. The NCAA is about to bring the heat and beaver's wood pile is about to go up in flames.

Anonymous said...

What right to privacy are they talking about? Did they argue FERPA? For a booster?

Anonymous said...

11:35 - It's not MY fault that the Revrunt claims to be an ordained minister but nobody can support that claim with any verifiable credentials. It's not my fault that on his recruiting trips he tells mommas that Dan Mullen is an atheist and if the boy comes to UMAA "I'll have him in Sunday School and THEY will not".

That has nothing to do with his outspoken faith or the rewards that await him in Heaven. It's all about using the faith as a recruiting gimmick. And the more pressing rewards are those he's about to get from the school and the NCAA.

Surely there are a few Bible verses out there that instruct us not to put our faith in the basket held by a charleton.

The hairdresser hasn't been mentioned yet, but that's another subject covered in the Bible.

Anonymous said...

Ya know, all this nonsense reminds me of the putdown Ole Miss fans are fond of: I wear an Ole Miss shirt because I went to Ole Miss, you wear an Alabama shirt because you went to Walmart.

But to paraphrase Paul Harvey, here's the rest of the story: those folks went to Ole Miss because Walmart doesn't sell college degrees...yet...



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