Quinn’s Redskins Case Goes to SCOTUS — On Petition for Certiorari
Who can forget Quinn Emanuel’s victory in the 17-year-long dispute over the name “Redskins”? Above the Law readers will remember Robert Raskopf’s happy victory email … and the first-year associate who had a problem with the firm’s representation of the Washington Football club. The first year was (eek!) fired for reasons unrelated to his disagreement with the firm’s position.
But is the firm’s position as strong as Raskopf thought? The Blog of the Legal Times reports that the Redskins case has made it all the way to the Supreme Court:
The long-running dispute over the appropriateness of the “Redskins” name for the Washington D.C. NFL football franchise reached the Supreme Court today. Philip Mause, partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath in D.C., representing a group of Native Americans offended by the name, filed a petition for certiorari in the case titled Susan Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc.
Was Raskopf’s victory email premature? More details, plus an UPDATE about the Native Americans’ game plan if SCOTUS doesn’t want to play, after the jump.
In response to the Quinn associate’s email about the Redskins name controversy, a “pissed off Quinn partner” had this to say:
Bob and I represent clients, not causes. We like Native Americans. If Native Americans had hired Bob, the Redskins would have lost the case. But they didn’t. They hired someone else. So it was incumbent on Bob to kick their ass in court. It is really that simple.
You wonder if that quote was “bulletin board material” for Drinker Biddle’s Philip Mause, who represented Native Americans — or at least some Native Americans offended by the team moniker — in front of the Court:
“This is a derogatory term for Indians that sticks out like an anomaly,” said Mause today. “No other group still has to deal with this kind of a term being used” in such a public and widespread way.
UPDATE: Kash wrote about this case for Washingtonian magazine in July. If the Supreme Court declines to take the case, Philip Mause has another play. From Washingtonian via True/Slant:
Philip Mause, a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath who is representing the Native Americans, says that all is not lost: Another petition challenges the Redskins name. With a much younger set of petitioners — led by Amanda Blackhorse of the Navajo Nation — they won’t face the time delay problem that caused the other case to be dismissed, raising the possibility that this time the courts could decide the case on the allegation of disparagement.
It’s worth noting that Drinker Biddle is representing the Native American petitioners pro bono.
Will the Court grant cert? If so, the Washington Redskins will be happy to know that its own lawyers support the team’s cause.
Challenge to Redskins Name Reaches Supreme Court [The BLT: Blog of the Legal Times]
Earlier: Quinn Emanuel Associate Has Reservations About ‘Redskin’ Victory
Second Bar Failure Is Proximate Cause for Quinn Associate’s Ouster
(92) Comments
Comments
Has anyone else noticed how fat Firstie Alley has gotten lately?
Whatever happened to Future Elie? Is he now a thing of the past?
SCOTUS hasn't granted cert yet.
Headline is very misleading, implies cert was granted.
Sigh.
You mean Kirstie Elie?
Quinn no-offered and cold-offered summers!!!
TTT firm!!! TTT!!! Triple exclamation points!!!
Future Elie died of e coli poisoning from a spoiled turducken he snarfed out of Kash's trashcan in 2014.
News about the NFL is not newsworthy to the upper echelons of society as football is a sport played and watched by ignorant laborers who toil in such irreputable industries as mining and logging. I, for one, excel at the illustrious sport of polo.
why would the firm cold-offer if they were no-offering (i.e. nearly half the class in LA)?
7 - offensive jerk
We need to bomb those reservations back to the Stone Age
-DOJ Secure
the fist year! the fist year! the fist year!
ahahahahaha year of the fist
9- That's the point. Idiot.
The only reservations I have are for dinner
QUINN REMAINS (full of palefaces)
12 is on point.
14 - agreed, 12 on point. 7 a riot.
yumyumyumyumyum
yumyumyumyumyumyumyum
To #1:
What do you mean "lately?" She's been a balloon for a few decades now.
“This is a derogatory term for Indians that sticks out like an anomaly,” said Mause today. “No other group still has to deal with this kind of a term being used” in such a public and widespread way.
----
It's a matter of degree: http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/09/lsus-chinese-bandits-fight-song.html
I suppose I should know the answer to this question, but are the "Redskins" recognized by the NFL?
This post is lame.
Mystal is the Walrus
Mystal is the WALRUS
Goo goo gaa jooob!
To be more representative of the community it represents the team should change its name to the Washington Negroes.
What's a fist year?
20, the answer is no. Jason Campbell is such a shitty QB they have been ex-communicated from the league.
Conservatives do and will always suck.
20 - No, they are a minor league "player development" team in a minor backwater town nobody's ever heard of. However, members of this team may be eligible to enter the "NFL Draft" through which they may be recruited to NFL teams in bigger markets.
As a Native American attorney living and working in Washington DC...end this stupid shit.
FU Dan Snyder. FU Roberts, Scalia, Alito and Thomas. If you don't end this ridiculous farce you aren't half the Judges that Judge Rakoff is.
Sotomayor baby, when are you going to hire the first native American S.Ct. clerk...namely me?
I'm waiting for your offer.
There should really be two ATL sites: One for news about truly elite NFL teams, like the Patriots and Steelers, and another for these TTT NFL teams like the Redskins.
IT'S CLERKSHIP SEASON
WE NEED MORE COVERAGE AND THREADS.
FIST YEAR.
Assfowl?
Great, if the SCOTUS can fix our racist name, maybe they would be willing to throw in an order that we also get a new coach, quarterback, owner and stadium. Sigh.
mmmmmmm some downhome assfowl cookin is what this boy needs... and maybe some a dat tube turduken too...
The appropriate term is "American Indian," not Native American, which I find offensive as I am a native born American. Most American Indian organizations continue to use the "Indian" nomenclature.
“This is a derogatory term for Indians that sticks out like an anomaly,” said Mause today.
Isn't Indian itself a derogatory term for Native Americans? They're not from India, after all. Does Mause really believe in his clients, or is he just taking their money like Abramoff did?
28 - judging by your atrocious writing and poor grammar, the answer is "never"
Re "If so, the Washington Redskins will be happy to know that its own lawyers support the team’s cause."
When, in defense of representation, lawyers refer to every client's right to representation, that generally means they don't support the client's position. At all.
19 - Why link to such a loser? People should stop thinking of themselves as "oppressed" minorities and start celebrating that they're the luckiest people in the world - Americans.
This post does a horrible job explaining what the case is actually about.
The DC Court of Appeals decided the case on the basis of laches and upheld the district court's holding. Even if the Supreme Court grants cert, they would only be deciding the issue of laches and wouldnt address whether the REDSKINS trademark is disparaging.
I expected to see this type of confusion on the espn boards but I expected more over here.
"Native American" is offensive as well as they are not native to the Americas. They came over from Asia and are thus immigrants like everyone else. Illegal immigrants to boot since I imagine they did not have the proper paperwork to enter.
D.C. is also home to the new "American Indian Museum" so that's the appropriate term. Thank you for bringing that to Elie's attention, 34.
- Native-born American
This entire case is a waste of time and resources. If a PRIVATE ENTERPRISE wants to call themselves the redskins what standing do the P's have and what cause of action?
This is just a bunch of whiny loons spending money because they don't like the name. What's next Swedes complaining about the Vikings or Spaniards English and French complaining about the Raiders or Tampa Bay Bucs?
40--Does their skin have a hue that, for lack of any better unifying label, can be used to identify this group?
The merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions, do not deserve to have a football team named after them.
42,
the lawsuit is to cancel the trademark of the REDSKINS. this wouldnt prevent them from continuing to use the name. It would just make it difficult to prosecute people selling counterfeit goods.
Hey come on guys, don't you know that we are all pink on the inside?
The Asslobster
Oh, and if a black person is an African-American, how do we refer to an American of Indian heritage, if the term American Indian is taken by a bunch of redskins? This is enough to make a weasel's top-hat go limp.
34 - We are not beholden to being named for Columbus ignorance. Even if my own tribe does use the term. Stupid BIA organizied tribes.
And 40 - The land bridge THEORY is just that. I point you to the Clovis and recently discovered Delaware arrowheads for proof that we were here before the ice bridges.
Respectfully,
28
I agree with 23. Change the name to "Washington Negroes" and use a silhouette of Obama as the logo.
45
Thanks . . . On what grounds are they trying to get it done? That their tribe owns it from way back in the day when John Smith and Pocohontas were canoodling in Ye Olde Commonwealth of Virginia. This is still stupid and a waste of the court's time. Has anyone else noticed the backlog of cases?
-42
28
You're not wise and Latino enough for her racist policies.
41 - The proper name in the National Museum of the Amierican Indian, as they 20th Anniversary fundraiser invitation clearly states.
Would your firm care to "pony up" $500 for a seat?
Respectfully,
28
Let's start a hockey team and call them the "Whiteskins." That way, the redskins can stop complaining.
53
Drunk Northern Whiteskins eh? We want to be inclusive of all of the peoples in Canada no doubt aboot it eh?
-Firewater Drinker
53 - It's been done. The Fightin Whites. google it.
47, that would be Indian-American.
By the ancient laws of combat, I accept the challenge of the so called "natives." They plague our people at every turn, but from this day out, they shall plague us no more.
Seriously, fucking natives...
I thought people who lived in India -were Indians
and Native Americans were Native American Indians.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been to the D.C. Indian museum. It's promising on the outside, but it's barren and boring on the inside. Quite a disappointment. The Buffalo Bill museum in Cody, Wyoming is 15 times better.
Smithsonian fail.
"We're anything but racists."
-- Nigel Tufnel
58 - We are indigenous peoples.
See Indigenous Peoples Day aka Columbus the Colonizing Slave Master Rapists Day.
Respectfully (no disrespect to the Genoans out there),
28
So the Cleveland Indians should change their mascot to a turban wearing dothead.
61 - How much for a box of Camels?
@61
28 I hope you're a troll, otherwise you are one of the least intelligent people I have ever come across on the internet. You're a) mixing up who did what historically b) blaming the wrong group.
-Hoping we can reboot the education system so dolts learn something
"Fighting Whities"? Sounded good, but it was created by a bunch of sorry liberal apologists who were doing it to prove that Indian mascots were wrong. BUT they didn't get the response they were looking for: white people loved the idea and viewed it as a way to prove that the Indian mascot wasn't so bad after all.
The result: The creators of the Fighting Whities added the phrase "Fighting the use of Native American stereotypes" to their shirts AND created the unnecessary and discriminatory "Fightin' Whites Minority Scholarship"
Fail.
I don't understand why they are offended by this. However, I don't actually care enough to look into it. I'm sure they have their reasons. I'll be pissed if they have to ditch the name though.
They sell cheap gas and cigarettes, but don't get stopped for speeding there or you'll get Lathamed. (Did I use that term correctly?)
Not only is "Redskins" wrong, but so is "Washington." I propose that the team be renamed the Chocolate City Chips.
"We didn't get our forty acres and a mule, but we did get you, CC."
50--the basis is that the mark is disparaging. see registrability guidelines in the PTO.
42/50,
they are trying to cancel the mark under the Lanham Act. §2 (a) of the Lanham Act bars registration of a mark that consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection w/ persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute
The original complaint argued that the mark is disparaging to native americans. The current appeal isnt even regarding whether the mark is disparaging, it is whether the court properly applied the laches defense to the facts. I dont think the SC will take a case to decide a laches argument.
"Christopher Columbus (c. 1451 – 20 May 1506) was a Genoese navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere."
I'm sorry 64, should I be blaming Leif Ericcson for your misuse of the term "Indian"?
Less respectfully (jk),
28
These are the ways of the Yangize, the French Traders, not the ways of the Huron.
Magua's heart is twisted.
Sure, 72, but:
When the Grey Hair is dead, Magua will eat his heart. Before he dies, Magua will put his children under the knife, so the Grey Hair will know his seed is wiped out forever.
70
See they waited too long and now are wasting time dragging this through the court system. They are still holding up important cases.
42/50
That's probably true 73, but will he take the Dark daughter of Monroe or the Yellow daughter of Monroe to preserve his own seed?
3 ftw, I was going to post the same thing, sloppy writing. I expected better, don't know why.
Magua understands that the white man is a dog to his women. When they are tired, he puts down his tomahawk to feed their laziness.
@71
I was referring to this quote of yours "Colonizing Slave Master Rapists Day." If you had studied your history you would know that the Spanish Crown and the Portuguese to a lesser extent were the ones that conquered the Americas and enslaved the native peoples. In what is now called the United States there was little to no enslaving of the people, just killing and taking their land.
Speaking of laziness, the French haven't the nature for war. Their Gallic laziness combines with their Latinate voluptuousness with the result that they would rather eat and make love with their faces than fight.
PREDICTION: SCOTUS denies cert -> new Quinn victory e-mail -> another associate fired for inappropriate response = 1 less to layoff.
The frontier moves with the sun and pushes the Red Man of these wilderness forests in front of it until one day there will be nowhere left. Then our race will be no more, or be not us.
Over 80 comments and no reference to Eeek boy? We need a "Where are they now" thread.
68 -- Put a glide in your stride, a dip in yo hip and come on over to the mother ship.
No voy a reconocer el término América India porque no reconoce la legitimidad de los Estados Unidos! No hay "Estados Unidos". Solo hay gente de las tierras nativas. Mi pueblo de Puerto Rico, y no Estados Unidos. No somos parte de tierra firme! No puedo contratar a un indio americano, porque no hay tal cosa como los americanos! Yo soy una latina sabio!
Desde los primeros seres humanos llegaron a tierra hace miles de años, la isla conocida como Puerto Rico ha protegido indios, españoles, africanos y sí, incluso los anglos. Los españoles tuvieron la primera y mayor influencia a la isla a su llegada en 1493. Durante su permanencia de 400 años los españoles violaron y saquearon a nuestro pueblo! Cerca de 4 millones de personas que viven en la "Isla del Encanto", con más de un millón en el área metropolitana de San Juan en paz! No te atrevas a la ira de un latinista como yo!
Mi primer acto será la de la demanda de un Museo de Puerto Rico en el Mall Nacional. Mi pueblo merece la justicia! Esta es nuestra tierra!
Llámame señora, perra.
what is worse, the name "redskins" or the billions of dollars of gambling losses inflicted upon the people of the US by these native americans? they have exploited our people for far too long. we need to take a stand.
@48 - You are a tool
Clovis theory is bs
I can't decide which translation of Lady Soto's rant is funnier: google's or yahoo's.
I think this is the real Sotomayor.
yahoo translation:
I am not going to recognize the term America India because it does not recognize the legitimacy of the United States! There is no " The United States ". Only there is people of native earth. My town of Puerto Rico, and the nonUnited States. We are not part of mainland! I cannot contract an American Indian, because there is no such thing as the Americans! I am a Latin wise person! From the first human beings they arrived at earth does thousands of years, the well-known island since Puerto Rico has protected Indian, Spanish, African and yes, even the anglian ones. The Spaniards had the first and greater influence to the island to their arrival in 1493. During their permanence of 400 years the Spaniards violated and sacked to our town! Near 4 million people who live in " Island of the Encanto" , with more of a million in the metropolitan area of San Juan peacefully! You do not dare to the wrath of a latinista like I! My first act will be the one of the demand of a Museum of Puerto Rico in the National Mall. My town deserves justice! This is our earth! Llámame lady, dog.
Google translation:
I will not recognize the term American Indian because it recognizes the legitimacy of the United States! There is no "U.S.." There are only people of native lands. My people of Puerto Rico, not the United States. We are not part of the mainland! I can not hire a Native American, because there is no such thing as the Americans! I am a Latin scholar!
Since the first humans came ashore thousands of years ago, the island known as Puerto Rico has sheltered Indians, Spanish, African and yes, even the Anglos. The Spanish were the earliest and greatest influence to the island on their arrival in 1493. During his stay of 400 years the Spanish raped and pillaged our people! About 4 million people living in the "Island of Enchantment," with more than one million in the San Juan metropolitan area alone! Do not you dare the wrath of a Latin scholar like me!
My first act will be to demand a Museum of Puerto Rico on the National Mall. My people deserve justice! This is our land!
Call me lady, bitch.
I am la Long Carabine!!!
I assure all of you, the only thing truly offensive about the Redskins is the play of Jason Campbell. He's the TTT of QB's. If the people offended by the name could only watch Campbell struggle through an entire football game, they would relent and give up their appeal out of sheer compassion. There but for the grace of God, they shall say.
I hope SCOTUS accepts the case and shoves it up the arses of those arrogant pr*cks at Quinn. I've gone toe to toe with those douches on several occasions and can say with certainty that they are not half as good as they think they are.