Olympic Games Law

Behind the stunning opening ceremonies and the athletic contests of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games stands a special body of laws, regulations, and committees, and a special court designed to handle the unique problems and disputes arising from the Games--doping, sponsors, endorsements, merchandising, eligibility, and more.  Georgetown Law Library has just published its Olympics and International Sports Law Research Guide, which covers documents, web sites, and other key resources for this specialized topic, including the Court of Arbitration for Sport.  In addition, New York University School of Law's GlobaLex site has a detailed research guide on International Sports Law, and the Peace Palace Library offers introductions, bibliographies, links, and other resources on its two related research guides:  Sports and Olympic Games.  Finally, the Law Library of Congress has summarized and linked the UK's special statutes enacted to govern the Olympic Games. All of these resources are worth a look if you are curious about the law behind the scenes in London this summer.

Hat tip to Slaw blog.

 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Fantasy SCOTUS

For both those who don't follow sports but wish they had fantasy teams to brag about and those who are addicted to owning fantasy sports teams, a federal district court clerk brings us Fantasy SCOTUS. In Fantasy SCOTUS, players try to predict the outcomes of pending U.S. Supreme Court cases, the splits (5-4, 7-2, etc.), and the justices in the majority and minority in each case.

(hat tip to the Con. Law Prof Blog)

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Sports Labor Law

This might provide a nice short break for anyone who is now studying for the bar but finding it impossible to stop thinking about law--even while taking a break to watch baseball highlights.

David Cone testified at Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings last week (transcript here) and he also happened to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium yesterday (a still-devastating curve). Cone was invited to testify on Sotomayor's behalf because he was a representative of the Major League Baseball Players Association when Sotomayor resolved baseball's most recent major labor dispute, in 1994. Here, Prof. Ilya Somin from George Mason, who also testified Thursday, mentions that Cone was a successful litigant who was testifying on behalf of a judge who made a decision in his favor.

In fact, the Supreme Court recently granted cert. in American Needle v. National Football League, which could significantly change labor relations in American professional sports, and some see Sotomayor as a potential disruption to the NFL's apparent plan to obtain antitrust exemption for all major sports leagues through that case. (Good analysis of the case is here from a practical perspective, and here from a legal perspective.)



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat