NCAA Allows Florida State to Release Transcribed Documents

The NCAA changed its mind after all Tuesday and will allow Florida State to release NCAA documents sought in a lawsuit. But the NCAA is still playing hardball with Florida news organizations and says it's not subject to the state's public-records laws.

"That's not even hardball," Barbara A. Petersen, president of The First Amendment Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Tallahassee, Fla., told FanHouse Tuesday. "That's 'I am taking my ball and going home,' crybaby type of stuff.

"It is absurd. It's totally absurd. The issue of whether the NCAA and FSU violated the public records law has not been resolved."

Related Documents (PDF Format)
NCAA Letter to FSU | Joint Complaint Against FSU, NCAA | NCAA Letter to Fugate

What has been resolved, at least at the moment, is this - the NCAA has given FSU officials permission to release previously withheld public documents in the university's appeal of NCAA sanctions. However, the actual documents will not be released. FSU must transcribe the information, which still resides only on a single secure Web site that does not permit printing or downloading.

Frank Murphy, assistant vice president of university relations for FSU, said he is unsure how long the process will take. It is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 8AM.

"It's one of the most audacious (cases)," Petersen said.

"The audacity of the NCAA to deny access to a public record in defiance of Florida and our constitutional right of access. It's stunning to me. The NCAA has some real issues. This one just stuns me."

On Monday, more than a dozen news organizations filed suit against FSU and the NCAA to force release of the documents under the state's open-records law. The NCAA rejected the request.

On Tuesday afternoon, however, NCAA Director of Legal Affairs Naima M. Stevenson wrote to FSU General Counsel Betty Steffens, releasing the school from previous confidentiality requirements. The letter said that the NCAA would not object to FSU officials complying with the law.

Rachel Fugate, attorney for the media organizations, criticized the NCAA's procedure. Even with the concession, the NCAA still says it is not subject to Florida's public-records laws. The lawsuit brought by the media outlets said the NCAA and FSU cooked up the procedure to circumvent the state's public-records law.

"It is absolutely insane, it's completely ridiculous," Fugate told The Tallahassee Democrat. "If they're authorizing to release it, why would they not provide it in a way that can be distributed?"



Petersen agreed, stressing that NCAA continues to violate Florida's law on public access. "They are giving FSU permission to release it but they won't e-mail it to FSU and they won't take the read-only restrictions off the copy on the secure website? It's absurd," Petersen said.

The dispute is over a response the NCAA gave FSU on its appeal of sanctions resulting from an academic cheating scandal that first surfaced and was investigated by the school in March of 2007.

An NCAA response to the appeal was made available to FSU's outside attorneys exclusively on a secure Web site that did not allow the documents to be printed or downloaded and required those attorneys to sign confidentiality agreements.

Media groups filed suit against the NCAA and FSU to gain access to the NCAA committee on infractions response to the university's appeal of sanctions against it. Among other penalties, the NCAA seeks to vacate team wins in games that included players implicated in an academic cheating scandal.

FSU President T.K. Wetherell has said he wanted to turn over the information but was constrained by the agreement.