Thomas Smith of K&L Gates in Pittsburgh penned a piece for the Legal Times noting that the NFL might be in hot water for destroying the tapes. The reason, "spoliation of evidence." It sounds like "spoil," and, indeed, it means to destroy evidence intentionally. Mr. Smith's article, albeit unapologetically wordy, is pointless.
Spoliation ruins the evidence for a purpose. What is that purpose here? Mr. Smith does not claim that the NFL sought to derail the civil class action filed by Rams fans, claiming that the Pats owed them some sort of duty beyond a thorough butt-kicking. (I blogged about this before). Even Mr. Smith, in a daze of heady self-aggrandizement, doesn't claim that the case has merit enough to even warrant discussion.
Instead, he focuses on Specter's Senate shenanigans. The spoliation could ruin those. I am not sure how, as the sole purpose appears to be a media circus. Mission accomplished.
Specter's one point of leverage is the leagues antitrust exemption (The NFL can pool resources for the purpose of contracting for television and ad rights). Mr. Specter, are you really going to take that away? More imortantly, what does the NFL's power with advertisers and broadcasters have anything to do with how it administers its own rules? It is as if you are considering the NFL an agency of the U.S. government, whose rules somehow carry as much force as state law. Can we expect hearings on clock management, the interpretation of offensive pass interference, and the false start vs. encroachment rules next?
I'll say it again, this is a total waste and the legal community should stop writing about it as anything but.
2 comments:
It is as if you are considering the NFL an agency of the U.S. government, whose rules somehow carry as much force as state law.
I'm pretty much with you. Except, however, as regards the rent-seeking behavior of the NFL and other sports leagues; they've done a tremendous job of diverting money from municipal residents to the team owners in the form of new stadia and other accomodations. Grr.
Personally, I'd like to see a few (brave) states do something like enact a ban on new money for professional stadia, or perhaps insist that if these professional groups were going to suck at the public teat, they'd have to stop going after church groups who want to show their games on a big screen...
A few have - notably Jew Nersey.
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