Court Opinion

ID: 9552680
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:15:07.891695+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:28:37.909140
License: Public Domain

Herd, J.,
dissenting: When I weigh the conflicting interests in the material sought to be discovered, I come down on the side of protecting the public interest. The public has an overwhelming interest in fostering and supporting the self-regulation engaged in by the colleges and universities under the auspices of the NCAA. Television has injected such a large amount of money into college athletic programs the temptation to cheat in recuitment of athletes is overwhelming. In the absence of NCAA regulations and sanctions, the so-called “athlete factories” consisting of twenty to thirty major universities would outbid all others for talent, then pay for it with television exposure. Such would ring the death knell of college athletics as presently constituted. I consider the present system worth maintaining. This can be accomplished only through regulation, investigation and sanctions, either by the NCAA or the government.
Since the NCAA does not have subpoena power, its investigation of complaints is dependent upon a pledge of confidentiality. The majority opinion successfully removes that technique and will ultimately eliminate NCAA regulation or force it to obtain subpoena power. I prefer self-regulation to other options, therefore I dissent.
Fromme, J., dissenting.