According to the Associated Press, the Justice Department has thrown in the towel over the Redskins:
In a letter to a federal appeals court, the department said last week’s Supreme Court decision in Matal v. Tam in favor of an Asian-American band calling itself the Slants means the NFL team will prevail in a legal battle to cancel the team’s trademarks because the name is disparaging to Native Americans.
Last week, the Supreme Court landed on a unanimous 8-0 decision regarding “disparaging terms” in trademark names, specifically as it related to the Slants, saying that it “would be unconstitutional for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to discriminate against it, citing the First Amendment’s free speech protection,” reports the AP. Justice Neil Gorsuch didn’t participate in this case.
The Redskins case had allegedly been on hold until the verdict in the Slants case was reached.
While Dan Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, was pleased with last week’s ruling, the reaction on social media to the Redskins judgment has been mixed. Some are showing support:
Others…not so much:
And of course, some were keen to make jokes:
Although the Redskins debate is finally out of the jurisdiction of the law, it will surely remain a hot topic in the public square.