Law Watch

I just wanted to bring up a few federal cases that are going on today/ this week.

1. American Needle v. NFL

American Needle was a producer of NFL licensed hats for many years until 2000, when the NFL signed an exclusive license with Reebok. Understandably, American Needle was unhappy and proceeded to sue the NFL and Reebok, citing a violation of section 1 of the Sherman Act (a set of antitrust laws). Section 1 prohibits any group of independent entities from working together to restrain trade or commerce. The big question in this case is whether the NFL can be considered a single entity. Players' associations from baseball, hockey, and the NCAA have weighed in on the side of American Needle while companies like EA and VF Imagewear have sided with the NFL. I'm not sure how the case will turn out but it's being argued in about two hours.

2. Proposition 8 Case

The first case to challenge whether the banning of same sex marriage is in violation of the U.S. Constitution. We've heard a lot about cases involving same sex marriage, but those have all been in state courts. This is the first case to be tried in federal courts and given the sensitive topic, it seems likely that it will go through the appeals process, possibly to the Supreme Court. I support the challenge to proposition 8, however I am worried about this case hitting the Supreme Court. History shows that Congress and the President enjoy deferring issues of this nature to the Judicial branch if possible. Depending on which way the Court rules, we could be stuck with that decision for a long time. I'm unsure how the justices will vote, but the Court is definitely conservative leaning, so I would be worried about the issue going there. The case isn't likely to hit the High Court for a few years and we don't know who will sit on the bench then.