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Judge in Zay Jackson case recuses himself

Zay Jackson

The Zay Jackson saga took a curious turn on Monday, as the judge presiding over the case decided to recuse himself on the day that Jackson’s sentence was supposed to be finalized.

“I got to thinking about it. There are times when the court has no choice but to recuse in a matter,” Chief Circuit Judge Dennis Foust said. The issue at hand? Foust has some ties to Murray State, and given that the victims of the vicious assault (seriously, watch it here) were not happy with the plea bargain, it only made sense for him to step aside.

Jackson will head back to court on November 13th. The new judge has the ability to change the plea deal, which currently calls for a 30 day sentence to be served on the weekends, as well as a suspension of his driver’s license, anger management classes, restitution and community service.

More importantly, since Murray State won’t allow him to play until this is resolved, it appears as if it will keep him off of the basketball court this season.

Frankly, I think this is a fair punishment.

Jackson will be required to go to class and keep his grades up if he ever wants to play at the Division I level again, but instead of being able to party on the weekends, he’ll be sitting in a jail cell. When you toss in the fact that he won’t be playing basketball, that sounds pretty fair for a first-time offender. What he did was despicable, but if he’s never been in trouble before, it shouldn’t ruin his life.

This gives him a second chance and an opportunity to better himself as a person. I hope he takes advantage of it.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.