Remove Baldwin’s portrait

In 2012, Penn State President Rodney Erickson decided unilaterally to remove Joe Paterno’s statue even though no court so much as opined that Paterno did anything wrong with regard to the allegations against Jerry Sandusky.

Had Paterno “done more,” he would have actually violated Penn State’s and the NCAA’s rules for reporting allegations of sexual abuse. This means the NCAA sanctioned Paterno for following the NCAA’s rules.

On Jan. 22, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania determined that former Penn State attorney Cynthia Baldwin breached Gary Schultz’s attorney-client privilege by testifying in the grand jury proceedings that led to perjury and other charges against him, Tim Curley and Graham Spanier. These charges led in turn to enormous damage to Penn State’s reputation.

The court also said that prosecutor Frank Fina “misled” Judge Feudale with regard to Baldwin’s attorney-client communications while citing a prior case (Berger v. United States) that discussed prosecutors who use “improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction.”

A rogue prosecutor is far more dangerous than any nonviolent criminal because the law is on the prosecutor’s side unless and until, as with Mike Nifong, he gets caught. He or she can force an innocent person to put his or her life on hold for years, and pay tens of thousands of dollars to defend himself against trumped-up charges.

In the meantime, and I am talking about legal and nonviolent public pressure from alumni, “Take down Cynthia Baldwin’s portrait in Old Main, or we will.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Remove Baldwin’s portrait."