Friday, November 20, 2009

Washington Redskins to Keep Name


Earlier this week the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Suzan Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc., the case that could have forced the Redskins to change their name.  Back in September, Harjo petitioned the court to hear the case as the latest move in a 17 year battle by a group of Native Americans to force the football team from Washington to change its name.  Harjo and her fellow plaintiffs contend that the name "Redskins" is racially disparaging and after the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a U.S. District Court's ruling that the plaintiffs had waited too long to bring suit, Harjo appealed to the Supreme Court.  The Surpeme Court declined to hear the case without comment.

One of the more interesting elements of the Harjo case is that the federal courts have not commented on the name "Redskins", but have instead halted Harjo on the grounds that the plaintiffs waited too long to file suit.  The youngest plaintiff in Harjo, born only a year after the Redskins trademark was processed, waited nearly eight years after turning 18 to join the suit.  While this is a victory for the Redskins, there is a similar case pending in the court system that has been stalled until this one was decided.




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4 comments:

Brian Doyle said...

I'll look this case up in the morning, but that none of the courts addressed the issue with the Redskins name is normal, courts don't typically write opinions/make decisions unless they have to, and in this case some sort of statute of limitations must have precluded the case from being heard. (As in the court only had to decide a preliminary issue on whether the SOL permitted the case to even be heard, rather than deciding anything about the actual claim.)

3rdStoneFromTheSun said...

I am friends with a few natives

they do not mind the name and think those with the lawsuits against the team are wasting time and bringing a negative light on their people

Anonymous said...

It was certainly interesting for me to read that article. Thanks for it. I like such themes and everything connected to this matter. I definitely want to read more soon.

Anonymous said...

Hey are you a professional journalist? This article is very well written, as compared to most other blogs i saw today….
anyhow thanks for the good read!