Week 8 Sport Law Post

Discuss the 3 types of scrutiny and how are they are applied to the 14th amendment.

The fourteenth amendment states that, "no State shall make or enforce any law which shall...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The three types of scrutiny used by courts to rule on Equal Protection Clause cases are strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny and rational basis. For strict scrutiny the action must be necessary and there must be no other way to accomplish the objective. Strict scrutiny is used any time a fundamental right is in question. Intermediate scrutiny does not require that the government's objectives be compelling, but they must be important. Rational basis requires only that the government has a legitimate reason for the action even if the courts do not agree with the rationality.

Sport Law related article of the week: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6267354

Retired NFL players are suing the NFL in an attempt to join the current players' antitrust suit against the league. The retired players are concerned about losing their health benefits under the new CBA.

From the article:

"The retirees want the NFL lockout lifted to ensure their pensions and health benefits remain funded. According to the lawsuit, those benefits will end if a collective bargaining agreement is not renewed by next March 11 -- a year after the last one expired."

The retired players are hoping to get their voices heard in the negotiations.

Week 7 Sport Law Post

What is Risk Management Process (provide more than one word for each step - tell me what each step is in a sentence or two? Then walk me through a sport related example.

The three components of the Risk Management Process are Recognition, Analysis and Action. Recognition involves "thinking about both the general categories of hazards to address and the specific hazards within those categories" (Spengler 50). In this step management is concerned with recognizing areas of risk and deciding whether it is cost effective to implement a risk management program. Ethical considerations must be taken into account as well as financial considerations. Analysis involves identifying risks and evaluating those risks. Management must identify risks based on common sense and industry standards of care. The degree of severity for those risks must be analyzed so that decisions can be made to mitigate the risk. Action involves deciding whether to act on the perceived risk and what type of action is appropriate. The four options are retention, treatment, transfer and avoidance.

An example of the process:

You are the head of a youth football league. You recognize that there is an inherent risk of physical trauma during full contact football. You realize that head trauma is a big risk and that it has the potential to have severe consequences. You decide to treat the risk by requiring all players to use the latest design of helmet by Riddell.

Sport Law related article: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6243983

"The NFL asked a federal judge Monday to keep its lockout in place, saying there are no legal grounds to stop it while accusing the players of trying to manipulate the law with a bogus antitrust lawsuit."

The posturing continues as the two sides fight for the public's and law's favor.