🏈 Ole Miss: Copy of FOIA petition released --

[rammerjammer]

@TerryP, very Dubose-esk. He did a lot like Freeze is doing now.

 

[alagator]

People Champion?
Looking forward to not going to a bowl game?
And, we didn't ask for this?

Ole Miss' crossroads: Freeze faces NCAA, Patterson to endure another empty season



DESTIN, Fla. -- Shea Patterson didn't sign up for any of this.

It was hard enough for the Ole Miss quarterback to consider burning a redshirt as a true freshman in 2016 to rescue what was left of a 5-7 season. It was quite another to start 2017 with diminished hopes.

You see, Ole Miss could go 12-0 this season and it might not qualify as improvement. Before a ball is snapped, the Rebels know they can't win the SEC. The school self-imposed a bowl ban earlier this year in hopes of mitigating further penalties amidst an embarrassing major infractions investigation.

Patterson came to Oxford, Mississippi, as a five-star, top-five overall recruit in the Class of 2016, per the 247Sports Composite. With what little certainty there is at Ole Miss these days, two years in, Patterson may have little to play for besides pride.

"Ourselves and our pride, the city of Oxford and our fans," Patterson said during a break at the Steve Clarkson Quarterback Retreat in Coronado, California. "We can be the people's champions."

Eternal optimist Hugh Freeze even wondered "what joy should look like amidst a trying time."

"I'm looking forward to [the bowl ban] in a weird kind of way," Ole Miss' coach added Tuesday during the SEC spring meetings. "I have the opportunity to really model for a group of young men how real life can be like when you're faced something you didn't ask for."

Certainly that's not what Freeze was selling during his quarterback's recruitment. Patterson was part of the program's best recruiting run in … forever. When Patterson enrolled early in January 2016, the Rebels had won 19 combined games in the previous two seasons and advnced to a pair of New Year's Six bowls.

That same month, Ole Miss was handed its initial notice of allegations from the NCAA.

"It's hard enough to play in this conference," Patterson said of the current cloud hanging over the program, "let alone all this other stuff."

Now he gets up before 5 a.m. three times a week to throw with receivers before official offseason workouts begin at 6 a.m. Where does he get the motivation?

"It kind of sucks we're not going to a bowl game," Patterson said. "… I still get a chance to win 12 games this year."

In theory, yes. More realistically, the biggest win for Ole Miss football lately has been limited to 140 characters. Patterson tweeted his intention to stay after an amended -- more damaging -- notice of allegations dropped in February.

In the document, which hasn't yet been revealed publicly, the school says it was charged with an expanded 21 violations.

Current college quarterback culture dictates Patterson should at least be weighing his options.

"I'm pretty sure, from the outside looking in, there was a lot of speculation," he said. "I think it was important for me to get out there and let the fans know I'm their quarterback.

"For us at Ole Miss, we have the talent, we have the coaching. The sky is the limit for us. I think we control our own destiny. I think we can go as far as we want to go."

Wait, that's exactly what won't happen at Ole Miss. Even if it "wins" the SEC West, it can't play in the SEC Championship Game. The season ends one way or another for the Rebels on Nov. 23 at Mississippi State.

That Thanksgiving night, half of Patterson's eligibility will have been used. After Freeze made the decision to pull Patterson's redshirt, Ole Miss went 1-2 down the stretch and missed a bowl for the first time since 2011.

Will the move be worth it? In fact, it's worth wondering what Patterson will do if Ole Miss is slapped with a further bowl ban in 2018.

"For a team and a university to self-impose a bowl ban I think that's just enough," the quarterback said, "but if something else like that happens, that's another story."

Patterson's tweet was surely a relief to worried fans. The reason for it is beyond concerning. The amended notice contains those new serious allegations, pointing to Freeze's lack of oversight.

For now, a short history of recent bowl bans isn't encouraging.

USC was given a two-year bowl game and lost 30 scholarships in 2010 just for the actions of one player, Reggie Bush. Ole Miss' case is arguably more widespread involving more assistants and blame placed on Freeze.

Penn State was given a four-year bowl ban in 2012, later cut in half, as a result of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. You shouldn't have to be reminded about the national upheaval that caused.

Former coach Jim Tressel lied to the NCAA, forcing Ohio State to stay home despite a 12-0 regular-season record in 2012.

The best/worst example of a bowl ban in the SEC might be Auburn in 1993. After an 11-0 season, the Tigers were kept out of a national title shot.

Freeze says he has reached out to some "NASCAR guys," FedEx CEO Fred Smith and former Baylor acting coach Jim Grobe for advice regarding his current situation.

As for Terry Bowden, the coach of that '93 Auburn team, "I don't know him personally but I'm quite confident he'd be open to it."

Meanwhile, the lawyer of former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt wants an apology for his client. Thomas Mars suggested some Ole Miss sources were a bit too aggressive in placing blame on Nutt for the NCAA wrongdoing.

A more sordid history could be in the making. Since August 2013, an NCAA bylaw has dictated a coach negligent of oversight of his program could be suspended for up to a year. If it happened, Freeze would be the first in FBS.

In fact, it is believed Freeze is the first FBS coach ever charged with violating the so-called "coaches' responsibility" bylaw.

I wrote about it in March using John Calipari and Pete Carroll as examples. They were never named in their schools' infractions cases (UMass/Memphis basketball and USC football, respectively). But under the current bylaw, the NCAA could have concluded they should have known about wrongdoing.

Like the coaches above, Freeze was not specifically named, according to the school in the latest amended notice. However …

"It is presumed [Freeze] is responsible because of the actions of his staff," Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said in a video released in February.

Ole Miss is contesting the allegation against its coach.

"Have you looked at how many coaches have been charged with failure to monitor and what has happened to them?" Freeze asked on Tuesday. "… I don't know of any that have lost their jobs."

If getting fired is the standard to avoid, Freeze has a point. But who knew it would come to this -- a comparison to Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, who was suspended for nine games in 2015? Louisville's Rick Pitino might be the latest basketball coach to be sent to the sidelines in the distasteful hookers scandal.

Ole Miss seems to have doubled down on the support of its coach even if it means him missing a few games. In that sense, Freeze's best leverage for continued employment is his winning percentage -- .609. If that number holds, Freeze would be the winningest coach at Ole Miss in at least 44 years.

That's what Shea Patterson signed up for 17 months ago when he placed his football faith in a faith-based coach.

"My faith has not changed," Patterson said. "It's a blessing playing for him."

http://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...patterson-to-endure-another-empty-season/amp/

 

[TerryP]

@TerryP, very Dubose-esk. He did a lot like Freeze is doing now.

I don't recall DuBose being this staunch in his stance. BUT, there's a lot about 2000 I've also chosen to forget, ya know?

 

[bama alum]

"Ourselves and our pride, the city of Oxford and our fans," Patterson said during a break at the Steve Clarkson Quarterback Retreat in Coronado, California. "We can be the people's champions."

Well then, Patterson, you and Freeze look to Butch Jones on how to create nonsense rings for nonsense titles.

 

[Bamabww]

BUT, there's a lot about 2000 I've also chosen to forget, ya know?

Me too Terry. I don't know if I've ever been as disappointed in another human being as I was Dubose.

 

[TerryP]

Me too Terry. I don't know if I've ever been as disappointed in another human being as I was Dubose.

Reminds me of a fan bragging about UofSC hiring Lou Holtz before the '99 season and me telling him I have more faith in DuBose winning a SEC Championship than I do Holtz doing anything in Cola--and I had NO faith in the coaching the team received with DuBose.

Little did I know ...

 

[alagator]

JUNE 2, 2017
DO PRIVACY LAWS PROTECT ALLEGED RECRUITING CHEATERS?
Hinds County lawsuit shows at least one, and probably more Rebel boosters are nervous

Without question, some Ole Miss alumni and boosters are nervous about their names being made public in connection with their role in the NCAA allegations of illegal recruiting involving the football program.

One booster, “John Doe” filed legal action against the University of Mississippi and the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). The suit was filed May 23 in the Hinds County Chancery Court and heard by Judge Denise Owen. “John Doe” sought to enjoin Ole Miss and IHL from publicly divulging his name in connection to allegations made against him regarding his involvement in football recruiting cheating.

As the legal action was filed in Hinds County, it was not hard to surmise that “John Doe” is from the Jackson area. On March 22 the WeidieReport filed a Freedom of Information request with the University of Mississippi with a copy to the IHL commissioner. The request was for the names of any alumni/boosters Ole Miss had disassociated from the Rebel athletic programs as the result of the NCAA allegations.

After several email exchanges and phone conversations, on May 3 the Assistant General Counsel at Ole Miss sent me a cover letter and copies of four letters that had been sent to alumni/boosters notifying them of the school’s decision to disassociate them from Ole Miss athletic programs. The names of the boosters, (a.k.a alleged cheaters) were redacted.

I thought at the time the blacking out of the names in the letters was akin to changing the names to protect the guilty. Steve Robertson, who covers Mississippi State athletics for Scout.com, has been tenacious and like a bulldog, no pun intended, in digging into the NCAA allegations against the Ole Miss football program.

When Robertson’s FOI request resulted in him receiving the same redacted booster names, Robertson filed a complaint with the toothless Mississippi Ethics Commission. And I emphasize the word “toothless.”

It would have made more sense, but also been more costly, to file action in a chancery court to force Ole Miss to release the names of the alleged alumni/boosters involved in any illegal recruiting. Nevertheless, the actions taken by Robertson clearly forced a letter from Ole Miss to the ethics commission saying that on June 5 the names of the boosters would be released. Thus at last month’s meeting, the commission tabled Robertson’s complaint.

There is obviously much more to come, not only in regard to NCAA penalties against Ole Miss in addition to those self-imposed penalties by the university. Can head coach Hugh Freeze and AD Ross Bjork (Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Affairs) survive and keep their jobs? Maybe they will, but they shouldn’t. New Ole Miss Chancellor Jeffrey S. Vitter has also given strong backing to Freeze and Bjork. As things unfold, he may regret it.

Ole Miss fans should be more than upset with any alumni or boosters who contributed to getting the school in trouble
Ole Miss alumni may be very upset with the NCAA, Steve Robertson, and many others. They should be even more upset and outraged against any boosters who contributed to getting Ole Miss in this mess.

Why did Jackson Clarion-Ledger ignore reporting about a lawsuit that is major sports and general news?
Why did the state’s largest newspaper ignore the very significant lawsuit filed by “John Doe” in Hinds County Chancery Court? Actually, the newspaper’s entire coverage of the NCAA allegations against Ole Miss has been nothing short of pathetic. However, if President Donald Trump had been an Ole Miss booster involved in the football recruiting violations, I’m sure liberal Clarion-Ledger executive editor Sam Hall would have given daily and prominent coverage to the lawsuit and entire investigation.

Mississippi State fans should not get too self-righteous and joyful about the very serious NCAA problems of Ole Miss
Based on the actions of previous football and basketball regimes at Mississippi State, the rival Bulldogs should not get too holier-than-thou about the problems of Ole Miss. In the past, the MSU skirts have not be so clean or pure when it comes to football and basketball recruiting.

The Weidie Report - Mississippi Politics, unabashed and with unfiltered integrity

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Like sands thru the hour glass...........

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Attorney for Barney Farrar says Ole Miss has made former staffer 'a scapegoat' during NCAA investigation

The attorney for former Mississippi athletic staffer Barney Farrar, who is at the center of the NCAA investigation into alleged football violations at the school, believes Ole Miss has made him “a scapegoat” and “thrown him under the bus” in an attempt to shield others from scrutiny.

Houston-based attorney Bruse Loyd told Yahoo Sports on Thursday that he recently filed a brief on Farrar’s behalf as part of Mississippi’s response to the NCAA Notice of Allegations. That institutional response is expected to be filed next week, according to sources, another step in a lengthy investigative process that should culminate in a Committee on Infractions hearing in late summer or early fall.

Loyd said he’s had access to the other response briefs from Ole Miss. After reviewing them, he believes that Farrar is bearing a disproportionate amount of responsibility.

“It was apparent to me that the narrative coming out of Oxford was that Barney was being portrayed as the lone, rogue actor and everyone else was above reproach,” Loyd said, naming head coach Hugh Freeze as one of those considered “above reproach.”

“It’s not right,” Loyd added. “It is a betrayal of him. Do I think Barney’s been made a scapegoat? Yes. Based on what I’ve seen and know, they set him up. ‘You are the most unsophisticated, the most expendable, and, tag, you’re it.’ But I have to say, I’m his advocate in this.

“Barney’s thinking is, ‘We were all in this together – what happened to me?’ They were a team, and a team doesn’t abandon their own on the field of play. It’s also not the Ole Miss way.”

Farrar, the former assistant athletic director for high school and junior college relations, was placed on administrative leave last November and the school announced his dismissal in early December. Loyd said Farrar was accused by NCAA enforcement of four Level One violations, the most serious level, in the Notice of Allegations that was delivered to Ole Miss in February.

As a whole, the school stands charged with 30 violations across three sports: football, women’s basketball and track and field. Twenty-one are tied to football, including an allegation that head coach Hugh Freeze violated his responsibility to create and enforce an atmosphere of compliance within his program.

Ole Miss self-imposed a postseason football ban in February for the upcoming season, but more penalties could be coming later this year.

Farrar’s contract expired March 31. His legal representation, which was through the same firm that represented head coach Hugh Freeze, was paid for by Mississippi. Funding for legal fees was cut off with his contract expiration.

“I stepped up to represent Barney,” said Loyd, a Mississippi native who described himself as a longtime friend of Farrar’s.

As Farrar’s lawyer, Loyd had a face-to-face meeting with the firm representing Ole Miss that he characterized as agreeable, but the school declined to pay his legal fees. Loyd then made a trip to Indianapolis to meet with NCAA officials in person, where they went over aspects of the case.

After that NCAA trip, Loyd wrote a letter to Ole Miss lawyers making a second request that the school pay Farrar’s legal fees and assist him financially through the briefing and hearing period, which is expected to end in September. That request was denied.

Unless he can effectively challenge the allegations currently against him, it is very unlikely Farrar can escape the panel assessing a show-cause penalty that would severely damage his chances of getting another job in college athletics.

“He’s charged with multiple violations – you tell me what my odds are [of exoneration] unless he can mount a good defense,” Loyd said. “I told the NCAA investigators when we met that, as it is, ‘On Johnny Cochran’s best day, Barney’s not going to walk out of there whole.’ ”

After the disagreement over paying fees and then reviewing the Ole Miss response briefs, Loyd came to a conclusion he shared with Farrar: “They’re going to throw you under the bus.” Loyd believes Farrar was used by the school to cooperate with the investigation, then discarded.

Until recently, Farrar had been “very reticent to let me try to change the public narrative. He finally gave me some running room, and I have done my best to educate Ole Miss alumni, fans and friends as to what is going on. This is not the Ole Miss way and I think most will take exception to the treatment of Barney and will hopefully speak out.

“We love Ole Miss, Barney and I both. We don’t want to hurt Ole Miss. You talk about the athletic director and chancellor and those people I assume are making these decisions, I take exception to some of those decisions.”

Despite that stance, Loyd said he has seen nothing in the response briefs that directly implicates Freeze in any violations.

“I’m not aware of Coach Freeze doing anything improper,” Loyd said. “Although the relationship is strained, Coach Freeze is a longtime friend of Barney’s.”

Nutt’s attorney, Timothy Mars, has asked for an acknowledgement that Ole Miss harmed Nutt’s reputation, and a public apology.

Attorney for Barney Farrar says Ole Miss has made former staffer 'a scapegoat' during NCAA investigation

 

[18Champs]

Houston= Pissed off.
Houston's lawyer = Pissed off.
Barney = Pissed off.
Barney's lawyer = Pissed off.

Ole Piss = About to get shit on.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Barney needs to nip it in the bud. If you're going down, go down swinging.

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

OXFORD - Former Ole Miss staffer Barney Farrar was placed on administrative leave by the university in November.

He was fired by Ole Miss in December, months after his name showed up in Laremy Tunsil's hacked text messages. So in the wake of a years-long NCAA probe, shouldn't Farrar have seen the writing on the wall the university was trying to distance itself from him?

Not in the opinion of Farrar's attorney.

“I don’t think so, because as I understand it, he was receiving assurances throughout. 'Don’t you worry, we’ll take care of you, you’re one of us," Bruse Loyd told The Clarion-Ledger Friday morning. "And I’ll let any person observing the situation make their own estimation of whether or not Barney is still 'one of us.'"

Loyd admitted he doesn't know who was giving out those assurances, but assumes they came from people directly or indirectly associated with the school.

Farrar has been caught in the web of the NCAA's investigation into Ole Miss' football program. The NCAA's enforcement staff delivered its second notice of allegations, which included 21 charges, to the university in February.

The university responded by self-imposing a one-year postseason ban.

On May 23, Loyd filed Farrar's response brief to the allegations. Loyd is Farrar's longtime friend. The two played junior college football together at Northeast Mississippi Community College, along with Mississippi State President Mark Keenum. Loyd is now based out of Houston, Texas.

Farrar's contract with Ole Miss expired March 31. Loyd took exception to the fact the university stopped paying Farrar's attorney fees and weren't going to "bridge him" through the end of the hearing process.

He said his issue isn't with Ole Miss, but more with its decision makers.

"I don’t think coach (Hugh) Freeze would have anything to do with handling the matter this way. I don’t know who this leaves," Loyd said. "It leaves an athletic director, a chancellor and maybe there’s a board and they acted on the recommendations of someone else. I just have a strong opinion that you’ve gone about it the wrong way and it’s going to hurt all of us.”

The spotlight turned to Farrar on the night of the 2016 NFL draft. On that night, text messages between Tunsil and John Miller, assistant athletic director for football operations, were revealed.

In the text exchange, Tunsil asked Miller for money for rent and to pay his mother's electric and water bill. Miller replied, "see Barney next week."

Ross Bjork, Ole Miss' athletic director, said no new allegations came from draft night. But it still wasn't a good look.

The NCAA's investigation continued as a result and Farrar was fired a little more than seven months later.

“I ask Barney about that day and Barney told me he was called to athletic director’s office and was told he was being terminated and his reaction was to fall to his knees," Loyd said. “He left the offices and was asked to turn in certain things and return to his home and that was the end of his five-year career at Ole Miss.”

Loyd said Farrar has hopes of coaching again. But Loyd knows Farrar is facing an uphill battle with his allegations.

"Anyone who is familiar with the allegations would agree Barney has a great deal to overcome with what he’s charged with," Loyd said. "And the way that we overcome it, in my view, and the way I’ve addressed this is to put the evidence in question and we have tried to do that.

"It remains to be seen and I think that’s one very, very interesting aspect of this matter ... Everybody will see the briefs, I assume next week, and they can make their own conclusions about how we’re going to attack the evidence.”

The university is expected to release its response in the early portion of this month. Loyd hopes Farrar's response will become public as well.

“Without them, the story is incomplete,” he said.

Freeze and Farrar don't have contact with one another, Loyd said. And as far as he knows, they haven't had contact in several weeks.

Loyd has been in the media and given several interviews this week. He even had death-penalty quotes attributed to him by an Indiana television station, which he sought to clarify.

“In my opinion, this case is nowhere near a death penalty case, in my view," Loyd said. "Someone else may have a different view, in my view it is nowhere near that.”

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/...assurances-hed-taken-care-ole-miss/365211001/

 

[XXL TideFan]

Me too Terry. I don't know if I've ever been as disappointed in another human being as I was Dubose.

I was driving through malfunction junction when I heard a clip of Dubose say something along the lines of "I mislead the people of Alabama" or some such crap and visions of Slick Willy and Monica ran through my mind. I thought that I was going to have a stroke. Out of all of the crap that we went through between Coach Stallings and Coach Saban, that was the worst for me.

 

[18Champs]

"I'm looking forward to [the bowl ban] in a weird kind of way," Ole Miss' coach added Tuesday during the SEC spring meetings. "I have the opportunity to really model for a group of young men how real life can be like when you're faced something you didn't ask for."

"...faced with something you didn't ask for."

Can someone point me to an example where a person broke rules and at the same time were asking for the repercussions?

 

['65 Cobra]

It is absolutely absurd to think that Freeze had nothing to do with any of it. Ridiculous. Freeze knew it all and knew it all along.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

What does the military call it...plausible deniability.....works in war????

 

[TerryP]

Ole Miss booster sues to keep his name private in NCAA charges.

An Ole Miss booster who was disassociated from the football program sued Ole Miss to keep his name from being disclosed. The lawsuit was filed in Hinds County Chancery Court on May 23. A public records request asked for a copy of the NCAA amended notice of allegations. The notice stated the names of several boosters who were disassociated from the football program. Mr. Doe withdrew his petition on May 26 without prejudice.
John Doe filed his request for an emergency temporary restraining order on May 23 in Hinds County Chancery Court. He also asked the court to seal the case. The NCAA served an amended notice of allegations on Ole Miss last year that accused Ole Miss of committing various infractions in its football program. Doe states he is a booster who was named in the notice and claims the NCAA falsely accused him of wrongdoing.

Steve Robertson covers Mississippi State University athletics for Scout.com. He submitted a public records request to Ole Miss that asked for a copy of the NCAA notice. Ole Miss provided a copy to Mr. Robertson but redacted the name of the booster. He filed a public records complaint with the Ethics Commission in March (p.7). What is interesting is that Mr. Robertson states in his complaint that

The names of the boosters named in this document were also redacted..The University elected to disassociate these boosters from the University, which speaks to the culpability of the individuals in question.
The University, a state funded institution, has defended itself at great expense, yet chooses to allow these offenders who put the athletics department at great risk to enjoy anonymity. The great people f the state of Mississippi have a right to know who these individuals are.
Other IHL institutions have publicized these names, so there is ample precedent to support this request.The leadership of Ole Miss announced the NCAA notice on February 22. Mr. Robertson states that he submitted a public records request to Ole Miss asking for a copy of the notice. However, Ole Miss Assistant General Counsel Rob Jolly stated in an email to Mr. Robertson that Ole Miss did not have a copy of the notice. Mr. Robertson posits that he thinks Ole Miss had the NCAA deliver the notice to outside counsel to avoid being forced to comply with the public records laws.​

The leadership of Ole Miss announced the NCAA notice on February 22. Mr. Robertson states that he submitted a public records request to Ole Miss asking for a copy of the notice. However, Ole Miss Assistant General Counsel Rob Jolly stated in an email to Mr. Robertson that Ole Miss did not have a copy of the notice. Mr. Robertson posits that he thinks Ole Miss had the NCAA deliver the notice to outside counsel to avoid being forced to comply with the public records laws.

Ole Miss admitted that it's outside counsel indeed had possession of the notice in a response to the Ethics Commission complaint (p.18) but that Ole Miss itself didn't possess the documents*. Ole Miss told Mr. Robertson that he was not entitled to disclosure of the names because the Supreme Court said private citizens had an expectation of a "zone of privacy".**

John Doe argued in his petition:

John Doe argued in his petition:

19. Accordingly, the University protested that disclosure of Doe's name would damage their privacy rights as a private citizen.
20. The University also admitted that exposing the name of a private individual like Doe would constitute a tort, since that Jackson State University had disclosed such private data and suffered a $200,000 jury verdict as a result. Ex.Bat 3. (KF note: This case covered a JSU employee. Employee records are a protected class of records under the public records statutes.)He also argued that disclosing the notice would hurt Ole Miss's own investigation (even though the record was not produced by Ole Miss.).​

Attorney David McCarty represented Mr. Doe. The case was assigned to Chancellor Patricia Wise but she recused herself.

*Question for the lawyers. So if a lawyer possesses a document on behalf of a client, does that mean the client has constructive possession of said document?

**The main case cited by Ole Miss is Young v. Jackson. 572 So. 2d 378 (1990). However, that lawsuit has nothing to do with public records laws nor government bodies. MP&L disclosed her private medical records - the defendants disclosed she had gotten a hysterectomy - to other employees. No government agencies were involved in this case nor was the plaintiff a public employee. Ole Miss's interpretation would obliterate most public records laws if it was indeed applicable to this case. What Ole Miss neglected to leave out of its citation of Young was that the court ruled against the plaintiff:

The fact that Wilson stated that the operation was a hysterectomy, rather than a partial hysterectomy, that occurred more recently than Wilson thought, does not in any way destroy the qualified privilege. The truth or falsity of the qualifiedly privileged communication is not material as long as there is no bad faith or malice. Killebrew, 225 Miss. at 92, 82 So.2d at 650.
In conclusion, there is no evidence in this record that Defendants exceeded the scope of their privilege by communicating Young's private facts to persons who had no legitimate interest therein nor that any of the Defendants acted with malice toward Young. The Circuit Court correctly entered judgment summarily for Defendants dismissing Young's complaint.
If this is the case used by Ole Miss as the foundation for it's defense to Mr. Robertson, then that foundation is rather shaky when one is talking about public records of a public university that do not involve actual employee records.​

Kingfish note: Blogger Wayne Wedie made some observations on his blog:

Without question, some Ole Miss alumni and boosters are nervous about their names being made public in connection with their role in the NCAA allegations of illegal recruiting involving the football program.
the actions taken by Robertson clearly forced a letter from Ole Miss to the ethics commission saying that on June 5 the names of the boosters would be released. Thus at last month’s meeting, the commission tabled Robertson’s complaint. There is obviously much more to come, not only in regard to NCAA penalties against Ole Miss in addition to those self-imposed penalties by the university....
Why did the state’s largest newspaper ignore the very significant lawsuit filed by “John Doe” in Hinds County Chancery Court? Actually, the newspaper’s entire coverage of the NCAA allegations against Ole Miss has been nothing short of pathetic. However, if President Donald Trump had been an Ole Miss booster involved in the football recruiting violations, I’m sure liberal Clarion-Ledger executive editor Sam Hall would have given daily and prominent coverage to the lawsuit and entire investigation. Rest of post.JJ submitted a public records request for a copy of the amended notice today. The request asked Ole Miss to redact only the names of minors and students.

COPY: JJ submitted a public records request for a copy of the amended notice today. The request asked Ole Miss to redact only the names of minors and students. ​

 

[alagator]

Beat writer for Mississippi State who has been mentioned here a few times (a bit of entertainment if you have time to scroll through this Tweets' timeline:



Beat writer for Ole Miss who I've seen over the years and his response:



The list of those "losing it" is growing exponentially around Oxford.