Response by NFL could spur lawsuit
Use of public funds for stadiums possible factor
WASHINGTON — Jerry Jones may want to bench Dallas Cowboy players who don’t stand for the national anthem, but NFL owners could find themselves facing a First Amendment lawsuit if they punish football players or coaches for their protests after taking government money into the private business of professional football.
The NFL is a private business — and the First Amendment protects Americans from free speech abuses from the government only. But legal experts differ on whether pro teams who play in publicly funded stadiums or who accepted government money in exchange for patriotic displays like the national anthem could find themselves legally exposed if they punish kneeling players.
The money exchanged between governments and pro football teams could mean that discipline enforced by the team could be “fairly attributed to a government entity, meaning the employer could not discipline someone for taking a political position,” Harvard Law School professor Mark Tushnet said.
A judge could find it “relevant that some of the stadiums have been constructed with public support and may get continuing public subsidies,” Tushnet said. “It may be relevant that some of these practices were instituted in cooperation with the national military.”
“If the government pays for the patriotic display and the firing is a result of the behavior being deemed insufficiently patriotic, it is conceivable that that a claim could then be articulated,” said Floyd Abrams, a First Amendment attorney in
New York.
The NFL has been embroiled in controversy over players using the national anthem before games as a platform for protest. Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the movement last season when he refused to stand during the anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality. Kaepernick remains unsigned and wants to resume his career, but other NFL players have picked up his cause and kneeled, sat or made other gestures during “The Star-spangled Banner.”
Jones, one of the NFL’S most powerful owners, has said the NFL can’t leave the impression that it tolerates players disrespecting the flag and said any Cowboys doing so will not play.
“If you do not honor and stand for the flag in a way that a lot of our fans think that you should, if that’s not the case, then you won’t play,” Jones said Tuesday on a Dallas radio station.
Public money is inextricably linked with the NFL. The majority of NFL stadiums were constructed or renovated with public money, including the Cowboys’ home in Arlington, Texas. The Taxpayer Protection Alliance rated AT&T Stadium as one of the most egregious abuses of taxpayer money, saying the cost to taxpayers has been about $444 million.
And the NFL was paid by the military for at least four seasons for its patriotic displays during pregame, as part of defense spending to market to potential recruits. After complaints from Arizona Sens. Jeff Flake and John Mccain, the NFL in 2016 repaid the government more than $700,000 covering payments from four NFL seasons, 2012-2015, for activities including performances of the national anthem, full-field flag details and on-field color guard performances.
There is no guarantee that a First Amendment lawsuit would succeed against pro teams even if they have accepted government money, Tushnet said. Other legal experts dismiss the idea of any kind First Amendment lawsuit against NFL teams being successful.
We hope you enjoyed our Nhl/golden Knights season preview magazine, which appeared in your newspaper Oct. 4.
However, if you missed it, you can find a copy on the newsstands for $1.99 at 7-Eleven, Terrible Herbst, Albertsons, Vons and Speedee Mart. Also, you can stop by the Review-journal at 1111 W. Bonanza Road and buy one at customer service.
The magazine, a keepsake for Las Vegas hockey fans, features profiles of key members of the Knights, a fan’s guide to the arena, player capsules and more.
You might want to visit the store just to get one of the four collector covers of Marc-andre Fleury, Deryk Engelland, James Neal and coach Gerard Gallant. The covers will be distributed to different parts of the valley at newsstands during October.
In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re producing multiple videos a day involving our Raiders coverage.
We have studio-produced videos that are led by Bryan Salmond and Gilbert Manzano (if you haven’t seen them talk postgame on Sundays, it’s worth clicking there after the final whistle). We have weekday videos and podcasts featuring beat reporter Michael Gehlken and Graney.
But one of the behind-thescenes guys on our Raiders videos is Chris Booker, our intern from Cal State University-east Bay. The locker room interviews you see during our videos are from Booker, who has a penchant for getting the players when they’re saying something interesting.
Booker also helps out during Raiders home games, providing news reports and videos from the opposing team. Here’s a thanks to Booker for making Gehlken’s life easier this season.