Federal Judge Scalps Washington Redskins

by JASmius



Intern GHart entered my office just now, so the above pic and asked me if the feds have finally forced Daniel Snyder to rename his NFL franchise the Washington Obamas.  I told him, "Not yet.  But it's only a matter of time":

The National Football League’s Washington Redskins lost some protection for its "controversial" name after a federal judge ruled it may be disparaging to Native Americans.

One, it's only "controversial" with "right tribe" groups, which means it isn't really controversial at all.  Two, it "may" be "disparaging"?  There was no actual evidence that it is to a broad majority of Original Americans?  Just Judge Lee's personal opinion?  Thirdly, as Judge Lee conceded, the nickname "Redskins" was selected to honor the franchise's head coach at the time (1933) who just happened to be an Original American.  So even the intent of the franchise itself is irrelevant?

Yup:

The decision doesn’t bar the team’s commercial use of the trademarked name, but it opens the door to copycats seeking to profit from it. The Redskins won’t be able to add the name to a federal registry, which provides additional protection from such infringement....

The ruling in the two decade-long dispute leaves intact a 2014 decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel six trademarks. The Redskins sued, arguing its free speech rights were infringed.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee [Bill Clinton appointee] disagreed, saying trademark registration is “government speech and is therefore exempt from First Amendment scrutiny.” [emphasis added]

"Government speech"?  Is there even such a term?  Leaving aside all the jokes I know are gestating in your overstimulated cerebellums, how does that remotely make any sense, given that the government didn't name the 'Skins, it isn't the government's business what NFL franchises name themselves, and commercial free speech is not any more "exempt from First Amendment scrutiny" than any other kind of speech.

No, this is Judge Lee's personal opinion, he has the power - not legal authority, but power - to force Daniel Snyder to change that nickname - or at least strip him of all revenue streams it generates to coerce him to do so - and he's gleefully abusing it.  And given that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, sports an 11-7-1 Democrat majority, Snyder would have to appeal all the way to the SCOTUS, which may or may not take the case and even if it did, the off-the-constitutionalist-rails Roberts Court couldn't be relied upon to pull Judge Lee's head out of his oligarchist ass.

I just hope that when Snyder finally knuckles under, he doesn't pick something unbearably lame, like when the NBA's Washington Bullets changed their name to the Washington "Wizards".  My vote would be to rename the team the Foreskins, in honor of our forty-second president.

You'll forgive me if I don't post a pic of what that helmet decal would look like.