Harsh Penalties

The NCAA levied extremely severe penalties against Penn State's football program Monday in the wake of the explosive child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, whose abuses were covered up for years by top university officials. The sanctions included a four-year postseason ban for the football team, a scholarship reduction from 25 to 15 for four years, a five-year probation for all Penn State sports, a $60-million fine and the vacating of all football wins from 1998 through 2011.

The NCAA levied extremely severe penalties against Penn State's football program Monday in the wake of the explosive child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, whose abuses were covered up for years by top university officials. The sanctions included a four-year postseason ban for the football team, a scholarship reduction from 25 to 15 for four years, a five-year probation for all Penn State sports, a $60-million fine and the vacating of all football wins from 1998 through 2011.

The Obama administration is poised to spare school districts from potentially harsh penalties for low-performing campuses if states agree to broad reforms favored by the federal government, including the linking of teacher evaluations to student test scores. The plan, outlined by senior administration officials Thursday, would relieve school districts from the requirements of the decade-old No Child Left Behind Act, which requires nearly all students to be academically "proficient" by 2014.

In a statement Monday, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said the university accepts the penalties issued by the NCAA , an indication that Penn State probably won't appeal the sanctions. “With today's announcement and the action it requires of us, the university takes a significant step forward,” Erickson said in a statement. NCAA President Mark Emmert said that the severe and unprecedented sanctions issued to Penn State and its football program reflected “tragic and tragically unnecessary circumstances.” "An argument can be made that the egregiousness and the behavior in this case is greater than any other seen in NCAA history,” Emmert said.

Victor Age, one of five inmates who escaped from the new federal prison in downtown Los Angeles last month, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday under a law requiring harsh penalties for armed career criminals. Age, 31, was awaiting sentencing on firearms violations when he and four other men hacked through a metal mesh enclosure on an eighth-floor exercise balcony of the Metropolitan Detention Center on June 17 and descended to freedom on a string of bedsheets.

It was interesting to Read "American Inmate Takes On Harsh Japanese Prison System" (Dec. 25). I have just returned from living in Japan for three years. It is unfortunate that the article did not state exactly how long Johnny Crittenden had lived in Japan before committing his undisclosed crime. Everyone living in Japan knows of the harsh penalties and harsh prison environment that await after you are convicted of committing a crime. Everyone also knows how safe it is there. In the prefecture where we lived there was little crime.

It really irritates and disappoints me to realize that the voters in Western states don't play a role in the decision on our country's President. Year after year, television networks promise not to broadcast election results until after the polls close in California. Once again, the networks breached their promise, allowing our votes only to count as a reinforcement for the remainder of the country. That is not fair. If the networks cannot be controlled, then harsh penalties should be imposed for those broadcasting unofficial results.

Sgt. Roger Ferguson's letter (June 4) asking for harsher penalties for drunk drivers omits only one thing: The death penalty. At least it would eliminate second offenders. Unfortunately, he, and others, fail to address the real problem. How do you control the actions of someone who has already lost control of his mind and body? How can harsh penalties influence those incapable of comprehending them or realizing the consequences of their actions? Drunken driving differs from other crimes in that it lacks motive or the possibility of gain.

In a statement Monday, Penn State President Rodney Erickson said the university accepts the penalties issued by the NCAA , an indication that Penn State probably won't appeal the sanctions. “With today's announcement and the action it requires of us, the university takes a significant step forward,” Erickson said in a statement. NCAA President Mark Emmert said that the severe and unprecedented sanctions issued to Penn State and its football program reflected “tragic and tragically unnecessary circumstances.” "An argument can be made that the egregiousness and the behavior in this case is greater than any other seen in NCAA history,” Emmert said.

The Big Ten Conference issued its own penalties Monday to Penn State, banning the school's football team from appearing in the Big Ten championship game for four years and stating the school won't receive any conference bowl revenue during that same span. That revenue is estimated to total about $13 million, bringing the grand total Penn State has been fined to $73 million. Earlier Monday, the NCAA announced its own sanctions against Penn State, which included a $60-million fine.  The Big Ten stated that Penn State's share of bowl revenue will be donated to a fund for the protection of children.  The league also publicly censured Penn State for its failure to act in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

The Big Ten Conference issued its own penalties Monday to Penn State, banning the school's football team from appearing in the Big Ten championship game for four years and stating the school won't receive any conference bowl revenue during that same span. That revenue is estimated to total about $13 million, bringing the grand total Penn State has been fined to $73 million. Earlier Monday, the NCAA announced its own sanctions against Penn State, which included a $60-million fine.  The Big Ten stated that Penn State's share of bowl revenue will be donated to a fund for the protection of children.  The league also publicly censured Penn State for its failure to act in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

The Obama administration is poised to spare school districts from potentially harsh penalties for low-performing campuses if states agree to broad reforms favored by the federal government, including the linking of teacher evaluations to student test scores. The plan, outlined by senior administration officials Thursday, would relieve school districts from the requirements of the decade-old No Child Left Behind Act, which requires nearly all students to be academically "proficient" by 2014.

The chairman of the NCAA committee on infractions said last year the case against USC was, literally, a "three-feet. " That's how high the paperwork would stack, he said, if you started a pile on the floor. The chairman said the NCAA was going to make an example out of USC in the hope it would serve as a warning to other schools. USC football was slammed with a two-year bowl ban and the loss of 30 scholarships as the result of violations involving star running back Reggie Bush.

Reporting from Tucson A mystery novel helps him churn the elliptical machine two to three nowhere miles a day, every day. It is then, usually in the afternoons, that Kevin O'Neill escapes into narratives of crime, sex and murder. "I see too much real-life stuff," the USC basketball coach said. "I'd rather read fiction." Recently, Dean Koontz's "Breathless" helped dissipate the miles. Other days, it's some work by James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Patricia Cornwell or Nelson DeMille.

California is paying a heavy price for its get-tough-on-crime attitude, with an underfunded and overcrowded prison system, the nation's worst recidivism rate and a rotten international image as the state with the highest death row population. But of all the inequities of a dysfunctional penal system and harsh state laws, few can touch our predilection for discarding the lives of children who commit crimes before they're old enough to fully understand the consequences of their actions.

Three white women beaten by a black mob in Long Beach told a court they were physically and emotionally devastated and asked the judge to give "the harshest punishment possible" to nine minors convicted last week for the Halloween attack. The trio -- Loren Hyman, 21, and Laura Schneider and Michelle Smith, both 19 -- sobbed through much of their statements, saying they did nothing to provoke the beating and have been scared to leave their homes ever since.

California is paying a heavy price for its get-tough-on-crime attitude, with an underfunded and overcrowded prison system, the nation's worst recidivism rate and a rotten international image as the state with the highest death row population. But of all the inequities of a dysfunctional penal system and harsh state laws, few can touch our predilection for discarding the lives of children who commit crimes before they're old enough to fully understand the consequences of their actions.

Frustrated NBA Commissioner David Stern took quick action in response to the weekend brawl between the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, suspending seven players and issuing team fines he hoped would send a message. In a Monday teleconference, Stern announced that Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, the league's top scorer, had received a 15-game suspension, the sixth-longest in NBA history. J.R.

A panel of international sports arbitrators hearing a doping case against Olympic sprinter Torri Edwards went out of their way to sing her praises. They described Edwards, then a 27-year-old USC graduate, as "a diligent and hardworking athlete" who had "conducted herself with honesty, integrity and character."