Alabama Judge Drops Charges Against Former Community-College President

March 2, 2011, 12:12 pm

An Alabama judge on Tuesday dismissed all charges against two former top officials at Shelton State Community Colleges, bringing an abrupt halt to a trial that had already heard five days of testimony about allegations of theft in connection with the college’s use of state funds to build a house for the college’s president, The Tuscaloosa News reported. The judge, John England of the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, ruled that while there may have been wrongdoing, the construction of the home did not constitute theft because the building remained the property of the college’s foundation, which has since sold it. Judge England’s ruling represented a vindication for Richard Rogers, the former president for whom the home was built, and Karen Van Luvender, a former dean of business services. The two were among a number of top officials in Alabama’s community-college system to be swept up in a wide-ranging investigation of corruption.

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dank48

I can’t get over this. They are actually putting people on trial for somehow failing to prevent people from being taken by surprise by an earthquake? Suppose the defendants had in fact issued a warning that everyone should evacuate: would people have evacuated? Would the defendants then have been held guiltless? Suppose the warning had not been followed by an earthquake, or the quake had been less devastating.

There’s such a thing as negligence, of course, and it’s always good to have someone to blame, but really . . .
particleman

Not even Iran would have such an outrageous trial. I thought the U.S. had a litigious society but this is completely irrational. It just goes to show that people simply cannot accept acts of nature–and since you can’t sue the earth find a person to legally victimize. The very fact this trial exists sets a dangerous precedent.