Gov, Crawley file lawsuit against ASU Trustees

[J C]

Governor, Crawley file lawsuit against ASU trustees

The Associated Press
January 20, 2004

Gov. Bob Riley and Oscar Crawley have filed a lawsuit against the Alabama State University board of trustees for refusing to seat Crawley, who was appointed by Riley to the board.

"That it has come to this is totally regrettable, and it could've been completely avoided if ASU's trustees had done the right and lawful thing," Riley said in a statement Tuesday.

Some trustees at ASU have refused to recognize Crawley, whose appointment by Riley was confirmed by the state Senate last June. Opponents of the Crawley appointment contend he isn't a member because Lister Hill Proctor was reappointed to that seat by Riley's predecessor, Gov. Don Siegelman.

After defeating Siegelman in November 2002, Riley withdrew Proctor's name, before the Senate confirmed him, and named Crawley.

Crawley, however, was escorted by campus police on Jan. 9 from a trustees meeting when opponents challenged his status as a trustee.

"Mr. Crawley was nominated and confirmed by the Senate. No one at Alabama State University has the right to prevent him from performing his duties as a trustee," Riley said.

The board has not budged on the issue.

Fred Gray, the board's legal adviser, told the Associated Press he had just returned from a trip and was not prepared to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.

Source: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040120/APN/401201051

 

[Jafus (Thinker)]

Shaking My Head!!

 

[JROCK]

With no puns intended......

Someone needs to get this saga to Spike Lee. This would be one hell of a movie. Maybe at a later date as the saga is not complete. It looks like the "the chickens are coming home to roost," in the case of the ASU BOT.

 

[EB]

This is what caught my eye.

Originally posted by J C
Governor, Crawley file lawsuit against ASU trustees

......

Some trustees at ASU have refused to recognize Crawley, whose appointment by Riley was confirmed by the state Senate last June. Opponents of the Crawley appointment contend he isn't a member because Lister Hill Proctor was reappointed to that seat by Riley's predecessor, Gov. Don Siegelman.

After defeating Siegelman in November 2002, Riley withdrew Proctor's name, before the Senate confirmed him, and named Crawley.

......

Source: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040120/APN/401201051

 

[jstate83]

From now on, whatever is done at this school and whoever is doing it, JUST BRING THE LAWYERS AND CAMERA'S IN FIRST.

This will save a lot of time.

 

[Blacknbengal]

Cole attorneys hope to intervene in Riley's suit

Cole attorneys hope to intervene in Riley's suit

By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser


Attorneys for former Alabama State football coach L.C. Cole hope Gov. Bob Riley's lawsuit against the ASU Board of Trustees can help their client.

Julian McPhillips and Kenneth Shinbaum, who are Cole's attorneys, plan to ask a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge to rule the last ASU Board meeting illegal.

Riley's office filed suit against the ASU Board of Trustees on Monday after several board members refused for the second time to recognize Oscar Crawley as a trustee at the Jan. 9 meeting.

"We feel as if they are illegally recognizing a trustee that wasn't appointed by the governor or approved by the senate and ignoring a rightful board member," said Jeff Emerson, a spokesman at Riley's office.

If the Governor's lawsuit is successful, McPhillips and Shinbaum will seek to void the board's Jan. 9 actions -- which included a vote that denied Cole's appeal of his termination.

Reached late Thursday afternoon, Emerson said the governor's office didn't have a reaction to or a role in McPhillip's motion.

Additional parties may join certain lawsuits under certain circumstances when their interests are at stake. McPhillips believes that the board's refusal to allow Crawley to vote on Cole's appeal is grounds for another appeal to the "true" board.

"We're looking for what's fair in this," McPhillips said. "What happened at the last meeting wasn't right. This is a man's livelihood that we're talking about here. I think everything that can be done to give this man a fair hearing should be done."

Trustee Buford Crutcher agreed with McPhillips.

"We've ignored the wishes of the governor and the state senate," Crutcher said. "I said the day we were in the meeting that I felt as though it was illegal and I still feel the same way. I don't think anything that happened in those meetings should be counted."

At the latest ASU board meeting, Crawley, who was appointed by Riley and approved by the state senate last summer, was escorted from the board's executive session by ASU campus police at the direction of chairwoman Torethea Johnson.

Crutcher said he couldn't figure out why board members are fighting so hard to keep Crawley off the Board.

"Mr. Crawley is a good man. He's levelheaded. He's his own man. He's an alumnus of ASU and cares about the school," Crutcher said. "Why wouldn't you want someone like that on the board? Why would you fight to keep him off?"

After being tossed out of the last board meeting, Crawley indicated he would have voted in Cole's favor.

"They've done a bad thing to a very good man," Crawley said of Cole. "I think coach Cole is as fine a coach as there is out there. I don't think this university could do better. He just got caught up in politics."

Cole was fired last December after a year-long saga. An eight-month investigation allegedly revealed numerous NCAA infractions committed by Cole and some of his assistants. Cole, who has denied any wrongdoing, was suspended by university president Joe Lee on Aug. 1. After a hearing at ASU in which the hearing officer failed to return a verdict, Lee fired Cole.

The board voted 5-2 to deny his appeal.

Despite the margin of the vote, McPhillips said the outcome could be different if Crawley were recognized.

"They had discussion during the executive session to decide how they would vote," McPhillips said. "You don't know how those discussions might have been swayed by the presence of someone else. You don't know what the outcome will be until it's put before the rightful board."