when ferpa and the first amendment clash on campus
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Does privacy outweigh the First Amendment on Campus? Lessons learned from AP v. NCAA was presented by Carol LoCicero during a panel on "Confidential Public Information. When FERPA and the First Amendment Clash on Campus" at Media and the Law's 24th Annual Seminar on May 6, 2011.TRANSCRIPT
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When FERPA and the First Amendment Clash on Campus
Presented byCarol LoCicero
Lessons learned from AP v. NCAA
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The Scandal
Florida State University. 61 student athletes in an online music course.Widespread cheating. Academic fraud.
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The Punishment
NCAA stripped FSU of all wins in which the guilty athletes played.
It was a sanction the university had not expected.
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The Consequences
Who would have the most wins to become the winningest coach in college football?*
Bowden v. Paterno
*With the sanctions, Bowden’s legacy was at risk.
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The Appeal
FSU doesn’t challenge its guilt.It challenges the punishment.
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The media had access to the records
until…
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With the appeal, media requests to view the NCAA
appellate brief are suddenly and shockingly denied.
“Cyber
confidentially
pact!”
FSU – NCAA Sanctions Appeal
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“Such conduct shall be reported to the
applicable state bar authorities…failure to adhere…could result
in civil or criminal actions”
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On behalf of 27 media entities, Thomas & LoCicero filed suit against the NCAA, FSU and Gray Robinson (FSU’s attorneys)
AP v. NCAAThe fight for access to the records leaves us with no other alternative.
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We focused on the illegal custodial website
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Public vs. Private
If the NCAA got away with a custodial website, it would be a dangerous development.
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FSU forced us to litigate FERPA.
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“FERPA!” is invokedto shield a variety of university activities.
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Does it have to be directly related to a student, and not just tangentially related to a student?
Is every record that mentions a student secret under FERPA?
OR
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(Describing the consequences if NCAA/FSU records were found to be public records…)
Volume 1 of 2 | Transcript of Proceedings | August 20, 2009
Leon County Courthouse | Tallahassee, Florida
“…I believe that would rip the heart out of the NCAA.” - Samuel David Berst, Jr., Vice-President for Division I, NCAA
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The Verdict
1. The records reviewed by FSU’s lawyers were public records.
2. The confidentiality agreement was void and didn’t shield the records.
3. They weren’t exempt student records.
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The media was entitled to recover its attorneys’ fees from FSU and the NCAA.
and…
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make sure the record at issue really is directly related to a student.
Before invoking FERPA,
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Thank you.
A copy of this presentation and documentation is available atslideshare.net/ThomasLoCicero