Jerry Sandusky and restoring the presumption of innocence

How the media can bring balance to the criminal justice system.

The podcast With the Benefit of Hindsight… looks into the 2011 Penn State scandal that led to the disgrace of football coach Joe Paterno and the conviction of his former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, for child sexual abuse.

It is from John Ziegler, who began his investigation soon after the scandal broke. He recounts his discoveries, and the podcast includes recordings of interviews he made during his investigation as well as live interviews with guests.

As of this writing, nine episodes have been released, which I understand is the midpoint of the series. Ziegler provides compelling evidence that:

1. The eyewitness to the “shower incident” changed his story numerous times, but based on his initial story, Paterno and Penn State administrators had no cause to believe any crime took place, and are NOT GUILTY of a coverup.
2. Sandusky himself was innocent of all charges.

I will not go into Ziegler’s arguments here. For details, you may listen to the podcast, explore Ziegler’s other work about the case, read Mark Pendegrast’s The Most Hated Man in America: Jerry Sandusky and the Rush to Judgment, Chapter 5 of Malcom Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers, or do your own research. I mention this scandal because I think it points to a larger issue.