Should Penn State Get the Death Penalty?

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

So why not just nuke Happy Valley?

Where the hell does it end? Penn State isn't a monolith, it's an organization that is composed of tens of thousands of wholly innocent people that will have their livelihoods irreversably damaged by the decision you want to make. Poor schlubs like the history teacher are going to lose their jobs because this decision will go FAR beyond the football program.

There is no such thing as "Penn State: Collective Institution". There is Penn State, a major state college with a billion dollar economy that had assholes at the top, assholes that did an exceptional job of hiding the fact that they were assholes.

But in the end, when the guys at the very top of the ladder are actively concealing criminal conduct, no amount of oversight is going to be able to fix it because who executes on it? There's always someone at the top of any organizational structure that's capable of bringing that structure to its knees. Unfortunately for Penn State - those men did just that in this instance.

This argument doesn't wash. Just about every person serving time in prison has a family. Should we let some convicted felon go free because his kids are innocent and shouldn't be deprived of a father? Of course not. By that rationale nobody would ever get convicted because you can always find an innocent 3rd party that would be affected.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with what Penn State as an entity did here. They did what every single major University in the country does. They also had the misfortune of a very insular group of people at the top of the ladder engaging in unacceptable conduct.

So you seriously think Penn State is the victim here?

[-King-]

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

This argument doesn't wash. Just about every person serving time in prison has a family. Should we let some convicted felon go free because his kids are innocent and shouldn't be deprived of a father? Of course not. By that rationale nobody would ever get convicted because you can always find an innocent 3rd party that would be affected.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

This argument doesn't wash. Just about every person serving time in prison has a family. Should we let some convicted felon go free because his kids are innocent and shouldn't be deprived of a father? Of course not. By that rationale nobody would ever get convicted because you can always find an innocent 3rd party that would be affected.



So you seriously think Penn State is the victim here?

Penn State is a non-entity here. It's not a victim, it's not a felon. It's nothing. It's a University that hires individuals and individuals do awful freakin' things. If a high ranking employee at your office murders someone and uses the garage to dismember the body, then 3 other friends of his help him clean up the blood and don't tell anyone - should they shut the business down?

Your analogy is what doesn't wash. Family members of a convicted felon aren't the convicted felon. There's a clear distinction between the party that's committed the wrong (the felon) and his family members. When you punish Penn State, you're not even attempting to draw a distinction.

You're trying to anthropomorphize Penn State here. Penn State isn't a human. It's not a thing. It's not capable of acting independently, as your convicted felon was. As such, it's not an appropriate target for punishment. The people that should be punished are those that were involved in these heinous acts.

The rest of it is just self-righteous moral grandstanding. It's people speaking from raw emotion completely bereft of reason while trying to prove that they hate child molesters more than the other guy. Gee, thanks fellas.

There are CLEAR, defined villains in this matter. There are clearly people who's very freedom needs to be taken away from them because of their behavior. Punish them. Anything beyond that is just shouting and pitchforks for the sake of their own self-indulgence.

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You're trying to anthropomorphize Penn State here. Penn State isn't a human. It's not a thing. It's not capable of acting independently, as your convicted felon was. As such, it's not an appropriate target for punishment. The people that should be punished are those that were involved in these heinous acts.

.

The athletic department is an appropriate target for punishment because it was the "thing" that the President, Vice-President, AD, Paterno and police were all trying to "protect". The department meant more than the lives of children.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

The athletic department is an appropriate target for punishment because it was the "thing" that the President, Vice-President, AD, Paterno and police were all trying to "protect". The department meant more than the lives of children.

The President, Vice-President, AD and Pateron are the appropriate targets.

What is the benefit of going beyond the actual wrong-doers other than to assuage your own egos? What good comes of shuttering the Penn State football program?

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

What good comes of shuttering the Penn State football program?

It acts as a deterrent to other universities that if anything happens in your athletic department you better do the right thing.

And you can't act like the President, Vice President and AD are just three ordinary university employees.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

It acts as a deterrent to other universities that if anything happens in your athletic department you better do the right thing.

And you can't act like the President, Vice President and AD are just three ordinary university employees.

And again - you don't think the fact that those 3 men are going to prison does that?

What do you think worries Spanier more right now - the loss of his freedom, his financial ruin, or the possibility of damage to the PSU football program?

C'mon - if going to freakin' jail wasn't a deterrent to these guys, the death penalty wouldn't have been.

[RaiderH8r]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And again - you don't think the fact that those 3 men are going to prison does that?

What do you think worries Spanier more right now - the loss of his freedom, his financial ruin, or the possibility of damage to the PSU football program?

C'mon - if going to freakin' jail wasn't a deterrent to these guys, the death penalty wouldn't have been.

The death penalty just lowers recidivism.

[Bearcat]

Ah, the slippery slope between flushing a football program for a year or two and shutting down a city. Just another debate on ChiefsPlanet.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Penn State is a non-entity here. It's not a victim, it's not a felon. It's nothing. It's a University that hires individuals and individuals do awful freakin' things. If a high ranking employee at your office murders someone and uses the garage to dismember the body, then 3 other friends of his help him clean up the blood and don't tell anyone - should they shut the business down?

Your analogy is what doesn't wash. Family members of a convicted felon aren't the convicted felon. There's a clear distinction between the party that's committed the wrong (the felon) and his family members. When you punish Penn State, you're not even attempting to draw a distinction.

You're trying to anthropomorphize

I got this far and then my head exploded.