The Game

Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258 (1972)

Mr. Justice BLACKMUN delivered the opinion of the Court. For the first time in 50 years the Court is asked specifically to rule that professional baseball's reserve system is within the reach of the federal antitrust laws.

I The Game

It is a century and a quarter since the New York Nine defeated the Knickerbockers 23 to 1 on Hoboken's Elysian Fields June 19, 1846, with Alexander Jay Cartwright as the instigator and the umpire. The teams were amateur, but the contest marked a significant date in baseball's beginnings. That early game led ultimately to the development of professional baseball and its tightly organized structure. The Cincinnati Red Stockings came into existence in 1869 upon an outpouring of local pride. With only one Cincinnatian on the payroll, this professional team traveled over 11,000 miles that summer, winning 56 games and tying one. Shortly thereafter, on St. Patrick's Day in 1871, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was founded and the professional league was born. The ensuing colorful days are well known. The ardent follower and the student of baseball know of General Abner Doubleday; the formation of the National League in 1876; Chicago's supremacy in the first year's competition under the leadership of Al Spalding and with Cap Anson at third base; the formation of the American Association and then of the Union Association in the 1880's; the introduction of Sunday baseball; interleague warfare with cut-rate admission prices and player raiding; the development of the reserve "clause"; the emergence in 1885 of the Brotherhood of Professional Ball Players, and in 1890 of the Players League; the appearance of the American League, or "junior circuit," in 1901, rising from the minor Western Association; the first World Series in 1903, disruption in 1904, and the Series' resumption in 1905; the short-lived Federal League on the majors' scene during World War I years; the troublesome and discouraging episode of the 1919 Series; the home run ball; the shifting of franchises; the expansion of the leagues; the installation in 1965 of the major league draft of potential new players; and the formation of the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1966. Then there are the many names, celebrated for one reason or another, that have sparked the diamond and its environs and that have provided tinder for recaptured thrills, for reminiscence and anticipation in-season and off-season: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, Walter Johnson, Henry Chadwick, Eddie Collins, Lou Gehrig, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rogers Hornsby, Harry Hooper, Gosse Goslin, Jackie Robinson, Honus Wagner, Joe McCarthy, John McGraw, Deacon Phillippe, Rube Marquard, Christy Mathewson, Tommy Leach, Big Ed Delahanty, Davy Jones, Germany Schaefer, King Kelly, Big Dan Brouthers, Wahoo Sam Crawford, Wee Willie Keeler, Big Ed Walsh, Jimmy Austin, Fred Snodgrass, Satchel Paige, Hugh Jennings, Fred Merkle, Iron Man McGinnity, Three-Finger Brown, Harry and Stan Coveleski, Connie Mack, Al Bridwell, Red Ruffing, Amos Rusie, Cy Young, Smokey Joe Wood, Chief Meyers, Chief Bender, Bill Klem, Hans Lobert, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker, Roy Campanella, Miller Huggins, Rube Bressler, Dazzy Vance, Edd Roush, Bill Wambsganss, Clark Griffith, Branch Rickey, Frank Chance, Cap Anson, Nap Lajoie, Sad Sam Jones, Bob O'Farrell. Lefty O'Doul, Bobby Veach, Willie Kamm, Heinie Groh, Lloyd and Paul Waner, Stuffy McInnis, Charles Comiskey, Roger Bresnahan, Bill Dickey, Zach Wheat, George Sisler, Charlie Gehringer, Eppa Rixey, Harry Heilmann, Fred Clarke, Dizzy Dean, Hank Greenberg, Pie Traynor, Rube Waddell, Bill Terry, Carl Hubbell, Old Hoss Radbourne, Moe Berg, Rabbit Maranville, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove. The list seems endless. Millions have known and enjoyed baseball. One writer knowledgeable in the field of sports almost assumed that everyone did until, one day, he discovered otherwise: "I knew a cove who'd never heard of Washington and Lee, Of Caesar and Napoleon from the ancient jamboree, But, bli'me, there are queerer things than anything like that, For here's a cove who never heard of 'Casey at the Bat'! "Ten million never heard of Keats, or Shelly, Burns or Poe; But they know 'the air was shattered by the force of Casey's blow'; They never heard of Shakespeare, nor of Dickens, like as not, But they know the somber drama from old Mudville's haunted lot. "He never heard of Casey! Am I dreaming? Is it true? Is fame but windblown ashes when the summer day is through? Does greatness fade so quickly and is grandeur doomed to die That bloomed in early morning, ere the dusk rides down the sky?" "He Never Heard of Casey" Grantland Rice, The Sportlight, New York Herald Tribune, June 1, 1926, p. 23. "These are the saddest of possible words, 'Tinker to Evers to Chance.' Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds, 'Tinker to Evers to Chance.' Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, Making a Giant hit into a double -Words that are weighty with nothing but trouble: 'Tinker to Evers to Chance.'" Franklin Pierce Adams, Baseball's Sad Lexicon. And one recalls the appropriate reference to the "World Serious," attributed to Ring Lardner, Sr.; Ernest L. Thayer's "Casey at the Bat"; the ring of "Tinker to Evers to Chance"; and all the other happenings, habits, and superstitions about and around baseball that made it the "national pastime" or, depending upon the point of view, "the great American tragedy.

Odds & Ends

Viaticals, US v. Jamieson, 427 F.3d 394

Ruby Ridge, 253 F.3d 359 (9th Cir.).

Marriage Fraud 8 USC 1325 (a)

FBI Rap Sheet Expungement under FOIA Privacy Act 5 USC 552 (a)(d)(2).

Wyoming v. Livingston, 443 F.3d 1211 (10th Cir. 2006)(State of Wyoming brought misdemeanor informations in state court charging employees of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), who were engaged in a program to control gray wolves, with knowingly entered private property without authorization, and littering. Following removal, State moved to remand. Defendants moved to dismiss. The United States District Court for the District of Wyoming , Alan B. Johnson, Chief Judge, dismissed. State appealed. Holdings: The Court of Appeals , McConnell, Circuit Judge, held that (1) any error in district court's decision to forego an evidentiary hearing, when ordering removal of State prosecutions of two federal officers, was harmless, and(2) officers were entitled to Supremacy Clause immunity.

KNOWLES v. IOWA, No. 97-7597. Argued November 3, 1998--Decided December 8, 1998 ,523 U.S. 1019, 118 S.Ct. 1298 (Mem)U.S.,1998An Iowa policeman stopped petitioner Knowles for speeding and issued him a citation rather than arresting him. The officer then conducted a full search of the car, without either Knowles' consent or probable cause, found marijuana and a "pot pipe," and arrested Knowles. Held: The search at issue, authorized as it was by state law, nonetheless violates the Fourth Amendment.

US v. Sanders, 452 F.3d 572 (4th Cir. 2006).Boyce R. Martin, Circuit Judge, Dissenting. When I think about this case, as I have done so often as of late, it makes me sick to my stomach. To imagine the emotional and psychological turmoil Mr. Sanders has been forced to endure as a result of the government's action and inaction in this case shocks and angers me to no end. Sanders woke up every day for six years believing that he was a free man. That's 2,190 mornings. And, in this case, it appears that Lummie Sanders used each of those days to make something out of his life. I cannot imagine any more settled expectations than those. I would order Sanders released from prison immediately. If we as a federal court cannot remedy the truly fundamentally unfair result that exists here, I don't know what good we are. And the law, well, if the law truly requires Lummie Sanders to go back to prison-the law is a ass.FN5

CIA's Unwitting Drug Testing

Ritchie v. US, 451 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2006)(CIA's LSD drug testing on unwitting subjects claim; see also generally Kronish v. US, 150 F.3d 112, 116-10 (2nd Cir. 1995)(describing CIA's drug testing project).

First Installement of Interesting Cases

Leonard Peltier cases: US v. Peltier, 585 F.2d 314 (1985);US v. Peltier, 446 F.3d 911 (8th Cir. 2005)(Rule 35 denied)

Estate of Charles Kuralt, 294 Mont. 354 (1999); 315 Mont. 177)(2003).

US v. Fraser, 448 F3d 833 (6CA2006)(Birth of a Criminal, counterfeit checks, used book against him).

Shell v. US, 448 F.3d 951 (7th Cir. 2006)(Gangster Deciple 2255, "Bug in a Badge" prison visiting room surveilance).

Walt Disney v. The Air Pirates, 345 FS 108; 581 F.2d 751 (9CA '92)(Dont Mess With The Mouse Copyright case).

Dale v. Colagiovanni, 443 F.3d 425 (5th Cir. 2006)(Plaintiffs allege that the Holy See also known as the Vatican City State participated in a scheme through agent Emilio Colagiovanni, and sought damages under RICO).

US v. Timley, 443 F.3d 615 (8th Cir. 2006).Rooker-Feldman Doctrine; acts a a jurisdictional bar, such that federal courts are not permitted to reconsider matters finlly decided by state courts.

US v. Edwin Edwards, 442 F.3d 258 (5th Cir.2006)(LA Gov Fast eddy loses his appeal).

Wampold v. E.Eric Guirard & Assoc., 442 F.3d 269 (5th Cir. 2006)(contingency fees. lawyers want % of future post judgement monthly disability ckecks).

US v. Hale, 448 F.3d 971 (7th Cir. 2006)(World Church of the Creator)(Conviction affirmed for slicitation of murder federal judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow).

US v. Lavalle, 439 F.3d 670 (10th Cir. 2006)(BOP Florence Super-max prison guards conspiracy to vioalte inmates rights convictions).
US v. Meyer, 439 f.3d 855 (8th Cir. 2006)(Expungement).In re Bailey, 450 F.3d 71 (1st Cir. 2006)(F.Lee Bailey disbarment in Fla. & Mass.).

Marder v. (Jennifer) Lopez, 450 F.3d 445 (9th Cir. 2006)(Movie FLASHDANCE COPYRIGHT case Copy of General Release in Appendix)(Marder loses; paid $2,300, film made 150 mil domestic!).

In re Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller, 438 F.3 1138 (D.C. Cir 2006)(public exposure of CIA agent; 1st Amendment contempt of court).

Rolling v. Crosby, 438 F.3d 1296 (11th Cir. 2006)(5 co-ed murders in Gainsville, FA 8-27-90)(2254 lost).

US v. Olson, 450 F.3d 655 (7th Cir. 2006)(Latin Kings Gang Bio & convictions).

Hart v. Parks, 450 F.3d 1059 (9th Cir. 2006)(Stolen Oscars).

US v. Gotti, 451 F.3d 133 (2nd Cir. 2006)(Conspiracy to kidnapp radio talk-show host Curtis Silva).

US v. Martha Stewart, 433 F.3 273 (2nd Cir. 2006).

Hobley v. Burge, 433 F.3d 946 (7th Cir. 2005)(Chicago Police torture case).

Means (Russell Means)v. Navajo Nation, 432 F.3d 924 (9th Cir. 2005)(Means was deprived of equal protection by statute which made him subject to the criminal jurisdiction of another tribe's court for misdemeanors committed on that tribes reservation).

Brother Records, Inc., v. Jardine, 432 F.3d 939 (9th Cir. 2005)(Beach Boys trademark infringement of "Beach Boy" Michael Love).

US v. Menyweather, 431 F.3d 362 (9th Cir. 2005)(US Attorney administrator get 40 days served on weekends for stealing $450,000! when guy gets 25-life for stealing $25 VCR, @706).