1st Amendment Protection

The Supreme Court might come to a ruling sooner than expected when it comes to the ruling of the football team the Redskins and there controversial name.  In the Article it says "Redskins certainly is offensive to native Americans and demeaning to the team and its fans. We have urged the owners to find a new name. But the legal issue is whether the 1st Amendment was violated in 2014 when the patent office canceled the Redskins' trademark registration, citing a law that prohibits trademark protection for names that “may disparage ... persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute."

There have been many different rulings on this case throughout its way to the supreme court.To some people a name like the Redskins can be taken as offensive ,But under the 1st Amendment government may neither outlaw their use or punish businesses that use such language. The purpose of the trademark system is to protect property rights, not to establish is something is offensive or not . This is a great first amendment case when it comes to freedom of speech and it will be interesting to follow as the decion from the supreme court is coming in the near future.



http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-0504-scotus-redskins-20160504-story.html