Lawsuit of the Day: Sixth Circuit Horses Around With Literary References
News of an amusing appellate decision, from that leading source of legal news, ESPN:
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a filly can't be named "Sally Hemings" after Thomas Jefferson's most famous slave and reputed lover.The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled that the Jockey Club can legally bar horse owner Garrett Redmond from naming his 4-year-old horse after Hemings.
We can understand the Sixth Circuit's reluctance to allow anyone to "ride Sally Hemings." Thomas Jefferson already tried that, and his historical reputation will never be the same.
But the court's decision was grounded in law as well as good taste:
Judge Alice Batchelder, writing for the three-judge panel, said Redmond has other options that may be approved by the Jockey Club, which forbids horse owners from using names of famous or notorious people without special permission.
No "famous or notorious" people? So much for Redmond's fallback option, "Wanda Sykes."
Did being denied this name of choice have an adverse effect on the horse's performance? Quite possibly:
The horse, now known as "Awaiting Justice," ran at Churchill Downs on July 1 and at Ellis Park in Henderson on July 25. She did not finish in the top 3 in either race.
A little more discussion, after the jump.
Judge Alice M. Batchelder -- who has been mentioned in the past as a possible Supreme Court nominee, but is probably too old now (b. 1944) -- got a bit saucy with the appellant:
[Judge Batchelder] quoted Shakespeare's "What's in a name?" and cited the band America in rejecting Redmond's appeal."In short, because he has spent three years insisting he has a constitutional right to name his horse 'Sally Hemings' and that no other name will do, Mr. Redmond now finds himself, like the songster of the 70s, having 'been through the desert on a horse with no name,"' Batchelder wrote.
"If he really wants to race or breed this horse in Kentucky, Mr. Redmond will have to come up with a name that complies with the Jockey Club's rules," Batchelder wrote. "A quick look at the Jockey Club's Registry confirms that 'Horse With No Name' is no longer available."
How about "Alice Batchelder"? Unless and until she gets nominated to the SCOTUS, she doesn't qualify as "famous or notorious," does she?
Court: Man can't name filly 'Sally Hemings' [ESPN.com]
Redmond v. The Jockey Club (PDF) [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]
(32) Comments
FIRST
YES! Holy Damn. It's been so long since I've been first. I'm stoked. That made my day!
Oh there it is - Wanda Sykes is a native if...you guessed it, PORTSMOUTH!
Come on, where's the tie-in?
racist
LOL at 3:42.
3:43--very good with your Portsmouth trivia
Maybe we could get Wanda to do a benefit with the proceeds to go to Portsmouth's starving lawyers. I mean really, can't we get this town to $160K?!? Or at least $100K?
Lat, I like how you keep directing the conversation back to Portsmouth, please keep it up. A full-on Portsmouth post would be even more helpful.
Is "Linda Tripp" out too?
What if he got creative and went with Sal E. Hemmings (a la Wile E. Coyote)?
Best horse name ever.... http://youtube.com/watch?v=MY5SU3ZGF3w
Well done, Lat!
I'd be satisfied if Portsmouth raised to $160, never mind $160k.
Given her history, and that Mr. Redmond is almost undoubtedly white, the implications of "owning" Sally Hemings and making her run in races--in Kecntucky--are almost certainly racially derogatory, much as the Kentucky authorities found. Of course, I am a bit ignorant of horse culture. . . but is there anyone who can disagree that this was at least in bad taste, and at most a major racist ego-trip?
4:32: Agreed. And I called Lat a racist for his cute little graphic employing the "GIDDYUP" in an overtly racist sexual overtone.
Lat is a racist
David:
Remove the giddyup language
4:43 --
Actually, the filly's "parents" were named Jefferson's Secret and Colonial Affair. That's why Redmond wanted to name the horse "Sally Hemings". See:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2005-09-26-naming-suit_x.htm
Naming it after the judge is hilarious!
Lat's graphic - and the post as a whole - are making fun of the idiocy and tastelessness of naming your horse "Sally Hemings." Note the post's categorization under "Bad Ideas."
Don't take everything so seriously, people.
(But you're lawyers. Of course you'll take everything so seriously.)
Best horse name ever: Hoof Hearted
http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2007/08/best-horse-name-ever.html
Amen, 4:54.
4:32:
Point taken. Will you at least agree with me that Lat looks like a bloated carp?
YES! Holy Damn. It's been so long since I've been forty-second. I'm stoked. That made my day!
All you political correctness morons need to get your heads out of your asses. Lighten the phuck up. Adding "Giddyup" makes it a racist comment? Please. All who react to such petty issues must be those who work for these big law firms. Toil away, please. Don't worry, I'll keep paying my bills that fuel your salaries. Just don't come out to the business world (you know, the one that creates your jobs) and expect to stand tall in your pulpits.
ALTERNATIVE RACE HORSE NAMES FOR SALLY HEMINGS:
*SLAVE DRIVER
*WHAM BAM
My personal favorite:
*MUSTANG SALLY
MORE ALTERNATIVE RACE HORSE NAMES:
sally forth
sally ride
ride sally ride
7:04: Right on.
Y'know, without the famous/notorious people rule, we wouldn't have this good story. Or the punchline of "Awaiting Justice," which is both a good horse name AND a good band name!
My vote: Sally's Lemmings.
Judge Batchelder is fantastic. Not only does she make homemade strawberry shortcake for her clerks on their birthdays, she also pulls out the "awaiting justice is temporary" line. And did anyone note that Judge Clay was also on the panel?
Lat, as a good Federalist Society drone you should know that the Jefferson/Hemings DNA tests only proved that Hemings had offspring by *a* Jefferson male, not by T.J. himself. And there were plenty of Jeffersons roaming around Monticello in the old days.
Whatever. This is a mildly amusing story, but I would have rather read about the travails of Biglaw associates trying to get into Manhattan today after the storm-caused complete paralysis of the entire NYC transit system, including Metro-North and LIRR...
3:53: It's Point Given. Get it right.
Have just caught up with your website and various commentaries about Sally Hemings. Obviously most missed the entire point of my lawsuit.
The issue was not the particular name. It was: If my First Amendment right to Free Speech was violated by the Kentucky Government rule which required me to have a name approved by a private organization - that is, The Jockey Club?
The Jockey Club is a private club of multi-millionaires and can be joined only by invitation. Only in recent years did it invite women or Jews. There are no black members in it.
The Appeals Court agreed that Kentucky could not censor my choice. However, if Kentucky got a private club to do it -- that is Constitutional!!
That is head-up-ass thinking. What it means is: If a Mafia Family Boss decides to knock off an opponent and does that, then he is guilty of murder. However, if he hires a private party to do it (for example - The Jockey Club) then its OK and it was the victims fault !!
It is also important to know the Court did not say there was anything racist or wrong in the name. It said it would not matter if I called the horse "Cream Puff", if the Jockey Club did not like it, then I could not use it.
However, the Jockey Club has approved far more ethnically and religously offensive names. Some examples: Slave Trader; Mistress Hemings; Buddha; ChrisT; Isitingood. I gave a list of several hundred to the Court.
The Jockey Club is a bunch of hypocrites.
Judge Batchelder showed her bias from her opening sentence. Worse is the fact she missed the point of the case. Who said she is under consideration for the Supremes? If appointed, she may not be the first or only senile member.
The only thing the verdict proved is it is better to know the judge than to know the law.
Its not over just because Alice Batchelder sang, unless she claims the role of the fat lady. Perhaps she is cut out for it?
Last month, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled: "Where the First Amendment is implicated, the tie goes to the speaker, not the Censor".
Maybe I'll ask Justice Roberts for his opinion on Judge Batchelder's opinion.
Everyone needs to ask themselves the question: How would I react if any private club could censor what I wish to say in public?
Pearljam raised an uproar last week when lines in a song -critical of Geo W. Bush - were censored from a broadcast. Is Pearljam right to be annoyed. You bet your Constitution they are.
Re Marriage of Redmond, California Supreme Court, 1982, Sanctions for Frivilous Appeal.
Somebody's always violating your rights.
Did it ever occur to you, you are just wrong?