The Tampa Sports Authority got its first look Monday at what the legal bill might be to defend the NFL’s pat-down policy in court this week. The who-pays scoreboard reads like this: taxpayers, $10,000 to $15,000; NFL, zero.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tenants of the stadium run by the sports authority, have not pitched in to help pay for the TSA’s legal expenses in a challenge over searching fans. A high school civics teacher sued the sports authority last week over the constitutionality of the NFL-mandated security pat-downs at Bucs games.
Richard M. Zabak, a lawyer at the Tampa firm of Gray Robinson, said the NFL will not reimburse the TSA for defending a league mandate that requires security at NFL venues to search for bombs and weapons.
Instead, the NFL will supply legal research and support to the TSA, said Zabak, who was hired to represent the sports authority in the pat-down legal challenge. Zabak said he did not know the value of the NFL’s legal help.
“I hope somebody gets back to the NFL and tells them it feels a bit lonesome out here,” Patrick Manteiga, chairman of the 11-member TSA board, said of not getting financial help from the NFL.
Jim Norman, the Hillsborough County Commission chairman, who sits on the TSA board, said the sports authority should move ahead in defending the pat-down policy in court and not agitate the NFL. Norman said it is important to consider the “big picture,” which he said includes the NFL awarding Super Bowls to the Tampa Bay area.
Oh yeah… Super Bowls…
The Tampa Sports Authority will fight a lawsuit filed last week challenging the legality of fan pat-downs at Raymond James Stadium, but it wants the National Football League to pay for its lawyers.
Sports Authority members voted unanimously Monday to oppose Hillsborough County resident Gordon Johnston’s lawsuit when it goes to court Wednesday for an emergency hearing. But some board members expressed frustration that taxpayers will have to pay to defend a security measure that the NFL mandated.
They were already frustrated that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have refused to pay the added cost of security to carry out the pat-downs.
“My main concern … is that taxpayers pick up the tab,” said board member Mark Proctor.
Attorneys for the Sports Authority presented board members with an option Monday that they simply not put up a defense of the pat-down policy. With no defense, a judge would likely side with Johnston, who claims the pat-downs violate state and U.S. constitutional protections against unreasonable government searches.
More likely, such a move would have forced the league to bear the brunt of the defense in what is believed to be the first legal challenge of the practice. The outcome of the case could affect how other cities deal with the issue.
Hillsborough Commissioner Jim Norman, who sits on the Sports Authority, cautioned board members against taking a position that would be seen as antagonistic to the NFL. Noting that Tampa will host the 2009 Super Bowl, he urged a more conciliatory approach.
“There is a bigger picture here than just the pat-downs,” Norman said. “We have a long-term opportunity in this community with the NFL.”
At his request, board members instead voted to ask the NFL and the Buccaneers to join the lawsuit and at least help pay for the cost of defending the pat-downs. That request will be made Friday, when Sports Authority officials were already planning to meet with Buccaneers representatives in an attempt to convince the team to pay for the pat-downs.
Oh, and now that I’m bent over and presenting myself to you, would you mind picking up part of the tab for the lube that I’ve already paid for? I mean, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble. Oh – you’re not gonna use any lube? Hmmmmm… Well, I don’t want to antagonize you, so I’ll just try not to scream or bleed on you. Now, would you like me to squeal like a pig?
Even though I might be mugged at any time, the reason that I don’t wear a suit of armor when I walk down the street is because risk is a part of being free.
Our choices are few. We can give up our consitutional rights to the siege mentality of the NFL whose only rationale for pat downs is that they will be sued (like the airlines were) in the event of a terrorist attack. Or we can accept the fact that the chances of being killed by terrorism in the United States is far more remote than being mugged. To live in a free society is to live with risk of injury by other free members of society.
As says the state motto of New Hampshire: Live free or die.