On Monday, a St. Joseph County judge ruled in favor of the University of Notre Dame, that they aren’t required to give ESPN campus police department records because, under state law, it’s not a public agency.
ESPN, the cable sports giant based in Bristol, Conn. sued in January when one of their reporters, Paula Lavigne was denied incident reports related to specific individuals. ESPN claimed it was a violation of Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act. Which players or incidents they were investigating is unknown.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Hostetler said that the arrest powers are granted by the state to the university’s governing board, meaning they are a “state actor” and not a public agency.