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Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks out over US Little League team vacating title

By Sean d'Oliveira | CBSSports.com

February 12, 2015 1:53 pm ET

Reverend Jesse Jackson held a press conference with members of the Jackie Robinson West of Chicago Little League team to express outrage over the team vacating wins from its 2014 Little League World Series.

"We think that this punishment [given] out is too harsh," Jackson said.

The team had its wins and US title forfeited after Little League International said the Jackie Robinson West All-Stars had players outside the team's boundaries.

"This decision's untimely and inappropriate at this time," Jackson told reporters. "It should not take six months after a team has played a championship game to determine eligibility to play the game in the first place."

Reverend Michael Pfleger was also at the press conference and said the investigation that led to the vacated title was 'mean-spirited.'

"When you're going over to voter registration and going to birth certificates and doing all this time of hunting and a witch hunt that's been going on for the last number of months, I can't help but wonder the question if the same thing would have been done with another team from another place, another race," Pfleger said.