The justices of the United States Supreme Court are being asked to decide whether the Washington Redskins' team name should be changed to conform to political correctness.
A group of Native Americans, via their attorneys, have filed a petition for certiorari, a legal document that is filed with the High Court and requests a review of a decision of a lower court.
The Native American organization claims that the name “Redskins” is a disparaging term. The goal of the group is to have the Redskins trademark canceled. The team has had a valid trademark for the name since 1967.
The U.S. Court of Appeals denied the group's claim on procedural grounds, based on the timeliness of the filing. The issue of whether or not the trademark is offensive or bigoted was not dealt with.
The Native American group's lawyers claim that the law explicitly allows cancellations of trademarks “at any time” and cite a 2001 ruling by a federal appellate court in the 3rd Circuit in Marshak v. Treadwell, in which now Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sat on the lower court and wrote that trademark cancellation claims are not time-barred.
In addition to the importance of the name to team tradition, the “Redskins” brand is worth millions of dollars in sales.
It is unlikely that the Supreme Court will take up the petition before the year’s end, so Redskins fans probably won’t have to worry about the team’s name and logo for the rest of the NFL season.
Comments
The team should change their name and logo. I'm from the D.C. area and am a life-long Redskins fan but only because they are the only NFL team in D.C. I've also thought of the name Redskins as racist. I'm Jewish and I would take offense if there was a team named the New York Kikes. The name does not make the team. Does anyone remember when Abe Pollin changed the Bullets to the Wizards. Yeah, there was some grumbling but people got over it. Same thing with the Redskins. It will be a great day when the Redskins name is gone forever. Maybe a Super Bowl again one day too?
Indeed. The name needs to change. And Hirsen's conclusion should have been "It is unlikely that the Supreme Court will take up the petition before the year’s end, so Native Americans will probably have to put up with the insult and racism represented by the team’s name and logo for the rest of the NFL season."
Give me a break...this is about a small select view who have nothing better to do. This is from the Telegraph in the UK...
"Despite the legal wranglings, which started in 1992, a poll in 2004 conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania found that 91 per cent of native Americans did not find the term offensive."
This is BS and our world is being ruined by political Correctness,....enough already...seems to me, they just want to get paid.
No - the team should not change it's name....
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