Potential Supreme Court nominee and current U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan had a huge impact on a landmark case involving the National Football League.
In February 2009, the Supreme Court asked the acting Solicitor General to file an amicus brief in the case of American Needle v. National Football League.
That move suggested the Supreme Court was prepared to hear oral arguments, but in June 2009 Kagan filed a 22-page amicus brief that attempted to remove the case from the Supreme Court’s docket.
Kagan’s recommendation apparently didn’t carry much weight. In January, the Supreme Court heard what may be the most significant sports law case in U.S. history.
While legal opinions vary on the case, it’s interesting to note that a potential Supreme Court nominee could have prevented American Needle from arguing.
Ironically, one-time Supreme Court nominee and current Justice Sonia Sotomayor had a major impact on sports law.
On March 30, 1995, she issued the preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball, preventing the owners from unilaterally implementing a new collective bargaining agreement and using replacement players, thus ending the 1994 baseball strike.
Sotomayor also authored the Clarett v. NFL opinion that rejected the District Court’s finding in favor of former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett and essentially approved the NFL’s age restriction rule in connection with the NFL Draft.
Kagan is considered by many legal experts to be a frontrunner to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
