New York ? David Stern acknowledged Thursday that more than half of his 56 referees had violated NBA policies about casino gambling, but said none would be punished because he felt the rules were outdated.

Instead, Stern said he was altering the policies, leaning toward allowing referees to gamble in casinos during the offseason – except for betting in sports books.

The league’s strict gambling policies toward referees became public after the Tim Donaghy scandal. The NBA currently prevents its officials from entering the gaming area of a casino, or doing any betting at all except for going to race tracks during the offseason.

But Stern admitted he did a poor job of enforcing the policies, and with views toward gambling changing, decided he wouldn’t “penalize people for behavior that I’m about to change.”

“It’s too easy to issue rules that are on their faith violated by $5 Nassau, sitting at a poker table, buying a lottery ticket and then we can move along,” Stern said after wrapping up the league’s Board of Governors meetings. “And by the time I got through and I determined going into a casino isn’t a capital offense … I’m the CEO of the NBA and I’ll take responsibility.”

Stern also said Stu Jackson and Ronnie Nunn, in charge of monitoring officiating, both would have their roles altered. But he stressed they were being “expanded” rather than demotions – even though Jackson’s job now will be divided between two people and the league will be “cutting down on some of (Nunn’s) other responsibilities.”

The commissioner stressed there still was no indication that any other officials were involved in illegal gambling activity, but practically all of them violated a league policy that Stern called “too harsh.” That included anything from buying lottery tickets to taking part in poker games, betting on college football or taking part in NCAA Tournament pools.

Stern reiterated he currently is not considering any action toward Knicks coach Isiah Thomas or Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan in the aftermath of the ruling against them in a sexual harassment suit brought by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders.

The trial did bring another change, however. All team personnel now will be required to set and meet minimum standards regarding sensitivity training and respect in the workplace.