Juggalos have had it tough recently. For those of you who are unaware, Juggalos are the fans of a rap group called the Insane Clown Posse (ICP). ICP's lyrics allegedly have incited violent attacks against victims. Juggalos claim that the acts of a few crazed people should not be imputed to all of them.
The government already has labeled the Juggalos as a "gang" subject to increased surveillance under the National Gang Threat Assessment. Now, it appears as though courts might treat the group differently as well.
This case involves a Tennessee man and self-professed Juggalo who was convicted of using a hatchet to murder a middle-aged woman who was hosting him in her home in 2007. On appeal, he is claiming that testimony from police explaining the alleged violent propensities of Juggalos was irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial. The State argues that the evidence was directly relevant to the motive for the killing, which was described as completing a challenge posed by the lyrics of the song which would result in achieving a spiritual goal desired by devout Juggalos.
The appeals court held that the conviction would stand irrespective of the testimony. The defendant may still appeal to the state supreme court or seek post-conviction relief.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Minor League Baseball Class Action Filed
Spring Training is usually a happy time for baseball players as hope springs eternal for success in the upcoming season. But the life of a minor leaguer can be tough, as evidenced by this class action filed by three minor leaguers challenging the pay structure and lack of negotiations for their contracts.
As background, each major league ballclub is affiliated with several minor league clubs of varying skill levels. Major league teams acquire players either through the Amateur Draft or sign players as "free agents" without a draft process. Upon signing, the player receives a modest signing bonus and is paid their salary. Minor league salaries are nothing like the salaries for major league ballplayers and can be as low as a few thousand dollars for the entire season.
Major League Baseball implemented the Uniform Player Contract (UPC) in 2012 as part of the new collective bargaining agreement with the players' union. Under the system, the major league team has exclusive rights to the player for seven years, the team can transfer the player to other teams at will, and the player may be terminated without cause. Players, in contrast, have no freedom to sign with other teams or transfer their contract. The UPC requires salaries to be paid only during the playoffs, meaning that teams could choose not to pay regular salaries and instead pay a single lump sum during the playoffs.
Minor league players have not unionized like their major league counterparts. Additionally, like most major sports, Major League Baseball enjoys a unique antitrust exemption reinforced by Supreme Court decisions, so there is no competing league (and probably never will be absent a contrary court decision) for the players to reap the benefits of competition.
The UPC explicitly allows minor leaguers to negotiate their contract, but in reality these negotiations are allegedly sham negotiations according to the class action. The class action seeks wage increases based on the value of professional services rendered (quantum meruit) and compliance with state and federal wage & hour laws (which would require regular salary payments).
As background, each major league ballclub is affiliated with several minor league clubs of varying skill levels. Major league teams acquire players either through the Amateur Draft or sign players as "free agents" without a draft process. Upon signing, the player receives a modest signing bonus and is paid their salary. Minor league salaries are nothing like the salaries for major league ballplayers and can be as low as a few thousand dollars for the entire season.
Major League Baseball implemented the Uniform Player Contract (UPC) in 2012 as part of the new collective bargaining agreement with the players' union. Under the system, the major league team has exclusive rights to the player for seven years, the team can transfer the player to other teams at will, and the player may be terminated without cause. Players, in contrast, have no freedom to sign with other teams or transfer their contract. The UPC requires salaries to be paid only during the playoffs, meaning that teams could choose not to pay regular salaries and instead pay a single lump sum during the playoffs.
Minor league players have not unionized like their major league counterparts. Additionally, like most major sports, Major League Baseball enjoys a unique antitrust exemption reinforced by Supreme Court decisions, so there is no competing league (and probably never will be absent a contrary court decision) for the players to reap the benefits of competition.
The UPC explicitly allows minor leaguers to negotiate their contract, but in reality these negotiations are allegedly sham negotiations according to the class action. The class action seeks wage increases based on the value of professional services rendered (quantum meruit) and compliance with state and federal wage & hour laws (which would require regular salary payments).
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Racism is Alive & Well - How Respondeat Superior Might Lead to Trouble for Your Business!
People who have blessedly not been exposed to racism in some time might think the problem ended years ago, but cases like this remind all of us that racism and hate remain daily problems for some Americans.
This case has all of the tell-tale signs of a racism case from the 1960's: derogatory name-calling, physical threats and intimidation, assault and battery, threats to the victim at his home not to fight the attackers in court, et al.
While that is enough in and of itself to comment on, I must also note the response of management and his supervisor. The immediate supervisor thought that an apology was the right way to discipline a knife attack? Management everywhere should shudder at the thought.
Remember that under the doctrine of respondeat superior, employers can be liable for the torts of their employees committed within the scope of their employment. Be careful who you put in management! The wrong leader can lead to punitive damages and bad publicity that every company should seek to avoid.
This case has all of the tell-tale signs of a racism case from the 1960's: derogatory name-calling, physical threats and intimidation, assault and battery, threats to the victim at his home not to fight the attackers in court, et al.
While that is enough in and of itself to comment on, I must also note the response of management and his supervisor. The immediate supervisor thought that an apology was the right way to discipline a knife attack? Management everywhere should shudder at the thought.
Remember that under the doctrine of respondeat superior, employers can be liable for the torts of their employees committed within the scope of their employment. Be careful who you put in management! The wrong leader can lead to punitive damages and bad publicity that every company should seek to avoid.
Monday, February 3, 2014
How Do Sweepstakes Payouts Work?
You might know that sweepstakes prizes worth millions of dollars are actually paid by insurance companies, not the company that is promoting it. But you might not know why insurance companies would agree to such huge potential payoffs - policy premiums!
Insurance companies receive policy premiums from the company in exchange for taking on the risk of a huge payoff. A recent example is an alleged agreement between Yahoo! & an insurance company to pay $1 billion to anyone who submits a perfect NCAA March Madness bracket through the Yahoo! Sports website.
The insurance company alleges that Yahoo! breached by cancelling the agreement after paying only one installment of the policy premiums. If the insurance company's allegations are true, in order to cancel the agreement Yahoo! has to pay 1/2 of the agreed-upon policy premiums. Yahoo! claims that the contract allows them to cancel at any time without paying any additional premiums.
A basic tenet of contract law is that a contract is formed upon the congruence of all of the required elements of a contract: offer, acceptance, and consideration. Even if the "triggering event" (in this case the results of the basketball tournament) occurs in the future, an enforceable contract results when all three parts exist together.
This case will come down to the language of the contract itself, but I find more value in the example of a difference between a contract with duties that result upon the happening of a subsequent event (this one) and a contract with a condition precedent (I agree to pay you $10.00 if and only if the Atlanta Braves win the 2014 World Series). Contracts with conditions precedent are not breached until the triggering event occurs. The alleged contract in this case was allegedly breached by the unilateral termination by Yahoo! (I agree to pay policy premiums to you in exchange for your promise to cover me if someone submits a perfect NCAA bracket).
In order to profit from these agreements, insurance companies almost always phrase the agreement to form an enforceable agreement immediately without conditions precedent.
The distinction is a fine one; make sure to have an attorney draft contracts on your behalf.
Insurance companies receive policy premiums from the company in exchange for taking on the risk of a huge payoff. A recent example is an alleged agreement between Yahoo! & an insurance company to pay $1 billion to anyone who submits a perfect NCAA March Madness bracket through the Yahoo! Sports website.
The insurance company alleges that Yahoo! breached by cancelling the agreement after paying only one installment of the policy premiums. If the insurance company's allegations are true, in order to cancel the agreement Yahoo! has to pay 1/2 of the agreed-upon policy premiums. Yahoo! claims that the contract allows them to cancel at any time without paying any additional premiums.
A basic tenet of contract law is that a contract is formed upon the congruence of all of the required elements of a contract: offer, acceptance, and consideration. Even if the "triggering event" (in this case the results of the basketball tournament) occurs in the future, an enforceable contract results when all three parts exist together.
This case will come down to the language of the contract itself, but I find more value in the example of a difference between a contract with duties that result upon the happening of a subsequent event (this one) and a contract with a condition precedent (I agree to pay you $10.00 if and only if the Atlanta Braves win the 2014 World Series). Contracts with conditions precedent are not breached until the triggering event occurs. The alleged contract in this case was allegedly breached by the unilateral termination by Yahoo! (I agree to pay policy premiums to you in exchange for your promise to cover me if someone submits a perfect NCAA bracket).
In order to profit from these agreements, insurance companies almost always phrase the agreement to form an enforceable agreement immediately without conditions precedent.
The distinction is a fine one; make sure to have an attorney draft contracts on your behalf.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)