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Offensive Trademarks Must Be Allowed, Rules Supreme Court (arstechnica.com)
In a ruling that could have broad impact on how the First Amendment is applied in other trademark cases in future, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a federal prohibition on disparaging trademarks as a constitutional violation in a ruling involving a band called The Slants. From a report: The opinion in Matal v. Tam means that Simon Tam, lead singer of an Asian-American rock band called "The Slants," will be able to trademark the name of his band. It's also relevant for a high-profile case involving the Washington Redskins, who were involved in litigation and at risk of being stripped of their trademark. The court unanimously held that a law on the books holding that a trademark can't "disparage... or bring... into contemp[t] or disrepute" any "persons, living or dead," violates the First Amendment. Tam headed to federal court years ago after he was unable to obtain a trademark. In 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in Tam's favor, finding that the so-called "disparagement clause" of trademark law was unconstitutional.
NPR had a episode on their Planet Money podcast about this very case.
Realistically, the anti-disparagement law only lasted this long because Obama's administration wanted it to so they could use it against the Redskins.
The anti-disparagement clause is part of 15 USC 1052(a), and was in the first version of the Lanham Act, passed in 1946, and signed by Truman. It has remained the same over the past 71 years, and Congress, not the President, has the power to change it or keep it.
Trying to make this about Obama is just stupid, particularly when the first case about this - Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo - was decided in 2005 during Bush Jr.'s presidency. And it's even stupider, because that case stemmed from a petition to cancel the Redskins' trademark in 1992, during Clinton's first term. This has been an active dispute for 25 years.
Actually...while what you said is accurate, you left out a really important and pertinent point. The executive can direct the federal agencies how to enforce the various laws which are used as the basis for administrative rules that dictate how those agencies function. While the case was about The Slants, the more publicized issue was with the Redskins. For that, the last sentence of the AP article on this ruling is insightful:
"The trademark office for years had raised no concerns about the Redskins, agreeing to register the name in 1967, 1974, 1978 and 1990. But the office canceled the registrations in 2014 after finding the name disparaged Native Americans."
That sudden reversal was all about a directive coming from the White House. No new law or rule...just the president telling a federal agency how to enforce the rules via laws. Same thing happened in the opposite direction with DOMA. So, yes, this was entirely about Obama and his directives.
There was a group of astronaut enthusiasts that probably caused that one.
If enough people are outraged by the Redskins...
In a conversation that included an actual Native American, she asserted that only "Professional Indians" (her term, spoken with rolling of the eyes) cared. At all.
Off the top of my head, there are a heart, a hand, and a (filled) pentagram. Ah yes, and a plus sign. That one is probably the least used. They only appear on California "kids" plates, which have flowers across the bottom of the character field. California also has California Agriculture plates with a crappy picture of a field, Environmental plates which are just white, Memorial plates which are all patriotic n' shit, Arts Council plates with some palm trees, California 1960s Legacy plates in black and yellow which look cool on black cars and stupid on everything else, Whale Tail plates where the whole background is a whale tail coming out of the ocean, Collegiate plates with a UCLA logo, Lake Tahoe Conservancy plates with a stupid mountain scene in the background, Yosemite Conservancy plates with a different stupid mountain scene, Firefighter plates with a fireman, Veterans' Organizations plates with a broad variety of logos, Pet Lovers plates with a picture of the kind of animal they like to fuck, California Museums plates with Snoopy on them, and starting 2018, pink plates to celebrate titty cancer.
What a shit-show.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Only one of them was actually enslaved in our country.
I don't care what country you are referring to, no one race has been the only one enslaved. The word "slave" is derived from "slav" as in the peoples that live in the Caucasus region. "Caucasus" is where "Caucasian" came from, as in white people. Lots of Irish slaves were in America but in time the economics of enslaving them reduced their numbers. Buying slaves from African tribes just became cheaper is all.
Did one race predominate in slavery? Sure. That does not mean other races did not exist in slavery.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.