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YSU appeal of allowing Richmond to play Saturday denied
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
Look for Ma’lik Richmond to be with Youngstown State University’s team today against Central Connecticut State University.
A federal appeals court declined YSU’s request to stop Richmond, convicted of rape as a teenager, from playing.
YSU had appealed a federal judge’s decision Friday allowing Richmond to play to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
Judge Benita Y. Pearson issued a temporary restraining order Thursday forbidding YSU from barring Richmond from athletic competition for any reason other than a coaching decision made using the same criteria used to judge other players for 14 days.
The appeals court, however, said YSU failed to show a temporary order allowing Richmond back on the team “has serious or irreparable consequences.”
No further appeal by the university is planned for now, said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which represents the university.
Richmond is pleased with the ruling, said Susan Stone, one of his attorneys.
“We’re very excited about Ma’lik going to the game tomorrow,” she said Friday afternoon.
Calls to head Coach Bo Pelini on whether Richmond would actually play were not returned Friday night.
On campus Friday, many students declined to comment on the matter.
Jeff Vrabel of Poland, however, was not one of them.
“I don’t think Richmond should be allowed to play,” he said. “I understand he served his time in a facility, but that girl [he was convicted of raping] will never go back to the life she had before, so I don’t think he should either.”
Vrabel tried to start a Facebook event calling for students to protest Richmond’s football-player status during today’s game.
But with each attempt, he received notifications from Facebook saying the event was shut down.
Judge Pearson scheduled an injunction hearing at 2 p.m. Sept. 28.
Richmond filed a complaint Wednesday in federal court in response to a statement released by YSU earlier this year allowing him to remain on the football team, but not compete in games after a petition circulated asking the administration to remove him from the team.
Richmond was one of two Steubenville High School football players found delinquent of rape by a juvenile court judge in the highly publicized 2012 case.
He served about 10 months in a juvenile prison. He was released in January 2014. He attended colleges in West Virginia and Pennsylvania before transferring to YSU last fall.
Richmond’s complaint claims he was denied the right to play football this season despite not having violated the student code of conduct – a breach of contract – and without due process.
It also claims the university discriminated against Richmond on the basis of his sex, in violation of Title IX – a federal law which requires universities to provide the same opportunities to all students regardless of gender.
The Title IX and breach-of-contract claims are viable, according to Judge Pearson’s opinion, which noted YSU’s reference to Title IX in its statement barring Richmond from athletic competition.
The university publicly banned Richmond without notice or process for non-YSU student-related behavior, which the opinion states caused irreparable harm. The loss of eligibility boded in favor of granting the restraining order, Judge Pearson wrote.
Any harm to YSU is self-inflicted, the judge wrote.
Finally, her opinion states while the public has an interest in promoting law and safety, it also has an interest in public institutions meeting reasonable expectations, keeping promises and honoring its contracts.
Contributor: Amanda Tonoli, staff writer, and the Associated Press