Michael Kurtz's blog

It's rare that two of my interests (antitrust law and NFL football) intersect so nicely, so I have been keeping an eye on American Needle v. National Football League. One thing that has disappointed me is the frequency with which non-lawyers -- or lawyers with a poor grasp of competition law, labor law and their interaction -- have covered the case with some mix of misunderstanding and hysteria. My boss over at Football Outsiders, Aaron Schatz, asked myself and fellow writer and lawyer Tom Gower to write a piece for the site so that our readers would have a clear and candid view of what the Supreme Court's 9-0 decision really meant.

If you're interested in either antitrust or the NFL (or sports and labor law in general), then go have a look at the piece.

The Drew Peterson trial has begun in the Will County courtroom of Judge Stephen White, with hearings on the admissibility of various pieces of hearsay evidence. This is pretty normal -- a lot of trials have significant evidentiary issues that only a hearing can resolve -- it is atypical for the judge to be confronted with over 20 witnesses presenting various pieces of hearsay testimony. At least 20 witnesses. The prosecution's witness list for the trial has roughly 60 entries, and the hearings aren't over.

Over 20 witnesses whose testimony requires evidentiary hearings? What is going on down there?

I have the greatest respect State's Attorney Glasgow, and appreciate the strange position his office has found itself in: an incredibly unpopular defendant being pursued by what appears to be a very flimsy case. What's worse, due to the publicity of this prosecution, the state legislature got involved, and now things are a giant mess. Consider this a quick primer on the slow-motion train wreck going on in Joliet.