19 years of litigation has seemingly come to an end for a group of Native American activits who were turned down yesterday by the Supreme Court regarding their challenge to the Washington Redskins’ racially charged name.
SCOTUS declined without comment, meaning a lower court’s ruling will stand. The Native American activists said that the Washington football team’s nickname was so offensive that it did not deserve to be trademarked.
The Redskins have adamantly maintained that their team name is a tribute to the Native Americans, not intended to be offensive in any way.
decade legal challenge by Native American activists to the nickname of the Washington Redskins came to a close Monday when the Supreme Court declined to review the group’s last loss in federal courts.
The justices declined without comment to reconsider a lower court’s ruling that the activists waited too long to bring their assertion that the nickname is so racially offensive that it does not deserve trademark protection.
“Obviously, we’re quite pleased; it’s been a long road,” said Robert Raskopf, a lawyer for the team since the suit was first filed in 1992. “We’re not surprised the court didn’t see any issue worthy of review.”
Philip Mause, who represented the challengers, said the activists were “disappointed” by the court’s decision but not yet resigned to accept defeat. A new group of challengers has filed the same trademark cancellation suit in hopes that their slightly different circumstances can avoid the procedural bar that halted this case.
Raskopf said the team is not worried about the new complaint. “I think we’re very confident with our likelihood of success,” he said.
Through the years, the team has steadfastly defended the use of the Redskins nickname as honoring Native Americans, not disparaging them. When based in Boston, the team was known as the Boston Braves and was renamed in 1933 as the Redskins. The team said in its brief to the court that t
