Okla-homey
5/29/2009, 05:47 AM
May 29, 1922: Supreme Court rules in favor of Major League Baseball
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1913/kkkknicolesstuffml4.gif
Federal League logo
87 years ago, on this day in 1922, the most powerful court in the world issues an opinion that is still studied as a model of "judicial activism."*
The United States Supreme Court ruled that organized baseball did not violate antitrust laws as alleged by the Baltimore franchise of the defunct Federal League in 1915. The Supreme Court held that organized baseball is not a business, but a sport. :eek:
*judicial activism: when judges are motivated to rule based on what they believe the law should be, instead of what the law is as written in the Constitution or enacted by Congress or a state legislature.
In January 1915, the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League sued the American and National Leagues, alleging that they were in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was enacted to limit monopolies in interstate commerce.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1198/kkkk1914baltimoreterraplo7.gif
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7388/kkkkpaaaaaoeimbkkaddon6.jpg
The Federal League chose the U.S. District Court presided over by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was known as a trustbuster, to hear their case. Mind you, this guy had consistently ruled against enterprises that he considered to be monopolies. Monopolies hurt the consumer because they engage in price-fixing and/or restraint of trade that makes it difficult or impossible for new or little guys to enter the marketplace which results in higher prices for all on "take it or leave it" terms.
What the Federal League did not know was that Landis was also a passionate Chicago Cubs fan who was reticent to do anything that might, in his eyes, damage the sport he loved. Landis delayed hearing the case, while the Federal League struggled.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2783/kenesawmountainlandisband0.jpg
Judge and Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. The Ohion was named for the Georgia Civil War battlefield where his father had his leg shot off. Judge Landis sat on the bench of the Federal District Court of the Northern District of Illinois when he was selected as the Commissioner of MLB. Modernly, judges aren't allowed to moonlight, but Landis held both gigs for a few years before he retired from the bench to be commissioner full-time.
They were unable to lure star players away from the American and National Leagues. By the end of the 1915 season, the Federal League was out of business, after less than two years of operation. Meanwhile, its lawsuit was still pending.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9544/kkkkfderalleaguerc6.jpg
Judge Landis became baseball’s commissioner in 1920, and was charged with cleaning up the big leagues after the Black Sox scandal of 1919, in which the Chicago White Sox purposely lost the World Series for a payoff from gambler Arnold Rothstein. Landis handed out eight lifetime suspensions, determined to rid the game of corruption once and for all.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4183/kkkk52260904sz0.jpg
Arnold Rothstein. Sports oddmaker and "fixer" of the 1919 World Series
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1452/kkkkteamphotosr4.jpg
"Black" Sox -- eight of these guys were banned for life.
Eventually and perhaps even predictably given the language of the Sherman Act, the Federal League won at trial. But, the National and American Leagues appealled...
The U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled on Federal Baseball Club v. National League, 259 U.S. 200 (1922) in 1922. In the opinion, Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that baseball did not constitute interstate commerce, in spite of the fact that its clubs and players crossed state lines in order to play.
Justice Holmes reasoned that personal effort, not related to production, is not a subject of commerce. As baseball was the subject of interstate personal effort and not interstate commerce, the antitrust law did not apply.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4104/kkkholmesqt3.jpg
Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Courts have since been reluctant to overrule the decision, making baseball the only professional sport in the country to enjoy an antitrust exemption. The courts have consistently held that the only way Major League Baseball would lose its antitrust exemption is if Congress were to legislate it out of existence.
Understandably, Major League Baseball lobbies hard to keep its antitrust exemption. Although labor law has made inroads into baseball’s antitrust exemption with the adoption of collective bargaining, this big business is still viewed as only a "sport."
As a result, Major League Baseball maintains a tight hold on its teams, preventing them from moving from one city to another; maintaining a commissioner of baseball who effectively has no independence from the owners; and generally catering to the interests of team owners and back room deals instead of creating a free market baseball economy.
Although the fans may likely be the poorer for it, the "sport" continues to thrive as it gains new markets around the world. And FWIW, the 1922 decision was reaffirmed in Toolson v. New York Yankees, 346 U.S. 356 (1952), and Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258 (1972).
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/19/insane7zont9.jpg
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1913/kkkknicolesstuffml4.gif
Federal League logo
87 years ago, on this day in 1922, the most powerful court in the world issues an opinion that is still studied as a model of "judicial activism."*
The United States Supreme Court ruled that organized baseball did not violate antitrust laws as alleged by the Baltimore franchise of the defunct Federal League in 1915. The Supreme Court held that organized baseball is not a business, but a sport. :eek:
*judicial activism: when judges are motivated to rule based on what they believe the law should be, instead of what the law is as written in the Constitution or enacted by Congress or a state legislature.
In January 1915, the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League sued the American and National Leagues, alleging that they were in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was enacted to limit monopolies in interstate commerce.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1198/kkkk1914baltimoreterraplo7.gif
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7388/kkkkpaaaaaoeimbkkaddon6.jpg
The Federal League chose the U.S. District Court presided over by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was known as a trustbuster, to hear their case. Mind you, this guy had consistently ruled against enterprises that he considered to be monopolies. Monopolies hurt the consumer because they engage in price-fixing and/or restraint of trade that makes it difficult or impossible for new or little guys to enter the marketplace which results in higher prices for all on "take it or leave it" terms.
What the Federal League did not know was that Landis was also a passionate Chicago Cubs fan who was reticent to do anything that might, in his eyes, damage the sport he loved. Landis delayed hearing the case, while the Federal League struggled.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2783/kenesawmountainlandisband0.jpg
Judge and Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. The Ohion was named for the Georgia Civil War battlefield where his father had his leg shot off. Judge Landis sat on the bench of the Federal District Court of the Northern District of Illinois when he was selected as the Commissioner of MLB. Modernly, judges aren't allowed to moonlight, but Landis held both gigs for a few years before he retired from the bench to be commissioner full-time.
They were unable to lure star players away from the American and National Leagues. By the end of the 1915 season, the Federal League was out of business, after less than two years of operation. Meanwhile, its lawsuit was still pending.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9544/kkkkfderalleaguerc6.jpg
Judge Landis became baseball’s commissioner in 1920, and was charged with cleaning up the big leagues after the Black Sox scandal of 1919, in which the Chicago White Sox purposely lost the World Series for a payoff from gambler Arnold Rothstein. Landis handed out eight lifetime suspensions, determined to rid the game of corruption once and for all.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4183/kkkk52260904sz0.jpg
Arnold Rothstein. Sports oddmaker and "fixer" of the 1919 World Series
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1452/kkkkteamphotosr4.jpg
"Black" Sox -- eight of these guys were banned for life.
Eventually and perhaps even predictably given the language of the Sherman Act, the Federal League won at trial. But, the National and American Leagues appealled...
The U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled on Federal Baseball Club v. National League, 259 U.S. 200 (1922) in 1922. In the opinion, Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that baseball did not constitute interstate commerce, in spite of the fact that its clubs and players crossed state lines in order to play.
Justice Holmes reasoned that personal effort, not related to production, is not a subject of commerce. As baseball was the subject of interstate personal effort and not interstate commerce, the antitrust law did not apply.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4104/kkkholmesqt3.jpg
Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Courts have since been reluctant to overrule the decision, making baseball the only professional sport in the country to enjoy an antitrust exemption. The courts have consistently held that the only way Major League Baseball would lose its antitrust exemption is if Congress were to legislate it out of existence.
Understandably, Major League Baseball lobbies hard to keep its antitrust exemption. Although labor law has made inroads into baseball’s antitrust exemption with the adoption of collective bargaining, this big business is still viewed as only a "sport."
As a result, Major League Baseball maintains a tight hold on its teams, preventing them from moving from one city to another; maintaining a commissioner of baseball who effectively has no independence from the owners; and generally catering to the interests of team owners and back room deals instead of creating a free market baseball economy.
Although the fans may likely be the poorer for it, the "sport" continues to thrive as it gains new markets around the world. And FWIW, the 1922 decision was reaffirmed in Toolson v. New York Yankees, 346 U.S. 356 (1952), and Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258 (1972).
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/19/insane7zont9.jpg