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Saturday, June 14, 2008
Law - Interesting procedural details of NCAA infraction hearing
Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star had a lengthy, detailed story Friday on the NCAA Committee on Infractions meeting Friday to "deliberate charges of four potentially major rules violations against the IU men's basketball program." Some quotes:
How does the hearing work? The NCAA enforcement staff is the prosecutor. IU, Sampson, Senderoff and Meyer will present separate defense cases. The school and coaches all have attorneys.Opening statements of up to 15 minutes for each side will be followed by separate consideration of the four allegations.
Committee members can ask questions at any time during the discussion. Any other involved person with a question must direct it to the committee, which will decide whether it's relevant and will be asked.
The session will end with closing statements. It's expected to end this afternoon but could spill into Saturday.
Is it like a court of law? It has "the same flavor" as a trial in a courthouse, according to a Seton Hall Law Review article from last year, but there are many differences.
A key one: The NCAA doesn't have the power to place witnesses under oath or hold anyone in contempt.
Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has said the NCAA doesn't have to follow due process because it's not a "state actor," meaning it doesn't exercise state power.
So it's OK for the hearing to be closed to the public and media, which is standard procedure. Still, the NCAA says its enforcement system includes many of the same protections of legal due process.
Sports law expert Gary Roberts, dean of the IU School of Law-Indianapolis, has testified before Congress that the system isn't perfect, but "there is no evidence to suggest that the NCAA's enforcement system is fundamentally flawed or makes major mistakes."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 14, 2008 10:35 AM
Posted to General Law Related