Three media outlets have agreed to end their lawsuit against Louisiana State University (LSU) over the university’s refusal to disclose records detailing how its athletics department spends public money on student-athletes. The lawsuit was dropped after a new state law, Act 818, was passed, shielding such information from disclosure.
Background
The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by Louisiana Illuminator’s Piper Hutchinson, Chris Nakamoto with WAFB-TV, and Todd Horne of Tiger Rag. They sought records showing how LSU uses the revenue its athletics programs generate from sources such as ticket sales, media deals, and corporate sponsorships to pay student-athletes.
Division I college athletics departments like LSU are part of a federal court settlement that allows them to share their self-generated revenue with student-athletes. This money stream is separate from the name, image, and likeness deals players make with sponsors, which are private arrangements already exempt from Louisiana’s public records law.
State Law Change
Once the journalists’ lawsuit was filed, state lawmakers advanced legislation to prevent public access to self-generated revenue records. Act 818, sponsored by Rep. Tehmi Chassion, went into effect on June 8 with Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature. The law includes a retroactivity clause, which essentially neutralized the lawsuit.
Scott Sternberg, a First Amendment attorney representing the reporters, said LSU agreed to cover their court filing costs in exchange for the plaintiffs dropping their lawsuit. Sternberg stated that continuing the lawsuit would be a waste of taxpayer money, given the new law.
In court filings, lawyers for LSU argued that the revenue records being sought were covered under the exemption to the state’s public records law for name, image, and likeness deals and protected under federal student privacy law. They claimed that releasing the revenue-sharing information would put LSU’s teams at a competitive disadvantage in the student-athlete marketplace.
Harassment and Intimidation
Throughout the course of the lawsuit, the plaintiffs and their legal team were subject to a harassment campaign on social media, including violent threats, some of which were sexual in nature. One plaintiff was physically assaulted, and another had their property vandalized after the lawsuit was filed.
Rep. Chassion condemned the behavior in a floor speech seeking support for his legislation. The threats became prevalent enough to warrant his condemnation.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
