Following the efforts of other sports leagues and corporations to demonstrate their dedication to the latest progressive cause, Major League Baseball (MLB) moved its annual All-Star Game between the National League and the American League out of Atlanta, Georgia, to punish the state for a new voter integrity law passed by its state legislature.
Now, Job Creators Network (JBC), a small-business advocacy organization, is suing MLB, demanding the game be moved back to Atlanta. JBC was founded by the retired owner of Home Depot.
“MLB robbed the small businesses of Atlanta,” explained JBC’s CEO, Alfredo Ortiz. It is estimated that the removal of the game will cost the city’s businesses about $100 million, the amount of actual, or compensatory, damages sought in the lawsuit. Additionally, JBC is asking for an additional $1 billion in punitive damages.
“We want the game back where it belongs,” Ortiz said in a statement. “This was a knee-jerk, hypocritical and illegal reaction to misinformation about Georgia’s new voting law, which includes Voter-ID. Major League Baseball itself requests ID at will-call ticket windows at Yankee Stadium in New York, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and at ballparks all across the country.”
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The game was moved to Denver, Colorado, and not surprisingly, the Denver Post ran a story that essentially dismissed the chances of the lawsuit succeeding. They obtained a statement from Marc Edelman, a professor of sports law at City University of New York, who called the lawsuit “arguably frivolous,” and gave it little chance of succeeding.
Edelman opined that MLB can legally locate its All-Star Game where it chooses, even for a political reason. He added that Georgia’s business owners were not promised anything by MLB, and are not entitled to any compensation for the loss of the game. “Overall, this seems to be a number of very far-fetched claims led by an organization that is unhappy that Major League Baseball moved its All-Star Game and simple unhappiness doesn’t amount to a legal claim. In a convoluted way, they have raised multiple incredibly unlikely arguments.”
The professor may be correct as to the ultimate outcome of the case, especially in our present environment of corporations bending over backward to please the Left. However, the Post probably should have mentioned that Edelman, in addition to classroom lectures on sports law, does consulting with various sports leagues, including Major League Baseball. It is hardly surprising, then, that he would be dismissive of a lawsuit that would adversely impact a client, even if that is his actual opinion.
Atlanta lost the All-Star Game as an act of retaliation for the Georgia Legislature’s enactment of legislation designed to reduce the incident of vote fraud. Included in the law was a voter ID requirement (clearly to reduce the chances of someone voting while claiming to be someone else). The deadline for making application for an absentee ballot will be moved back so there will be fewer late ballots rejected due to late arrival in the mail. Additionally, mail-in absentee ballots will now require a driver’s license number (or a state ID number, if the person does not drive) and the last four digits of the prospective voter’s social security number. A particularly good feature in the bill was a change to printing mail-in absentee ballots on a special type of paper, with the precinct name and ID at the top.
In the last presidential election, it has been reported that questionable ballots on different kinds of paper were submitted in several locations around the country, not just in Georgia.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp defended the new law, asserting that the new law makes it “harder to cheat by ensuring the security of the ballot box.”
Democrats, on the other hand, charged that the new law was a form of “voter suppression,” even going so far as to call it the restoration of “Jim Crow” laws, which made it more difficult for black Americans to vote. President Joe Biden even said, “This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act.”
Of course, the point of the new law is voter suppression — of fraudulent voting. It should be disturbing that one political party — the Democratic Party — stands opposed to laws that reduce the opportunity for someone to vote illegally. It is a reasonable assumption that they are desirous of allowing votes to be cast fraudulently because they perceive that it increases their chances of winning an election.
While that may be despicable — a political party favoring fraudulent voting — it is at least understandable. What is even more disturbing is that the owners of Major League Baseball have opted to interject themselves into these political disputes. Fans at the ball parks do not shell out their hard-earned money to be subjected to politics. They go to the ball park for a diversion.
Yet, secular progressives apparently do not make such distinctions. To them, every part of life is something to be used to advance their statist agenda.
