All in a name: Teflon Tom not first Brady to win big in court
When a district judge in New York on Thursday overturned the NFL’s four-game Deflategate suspension on New England quarterback Tom Brady, members of Patriot Nation, from Boston to Southern California and everywhere in between (not to mention millions of fantasy football players) rejoiced.
For some, the ruling was a shock. MMQB writer and attorney Andrew Brandt called it “a stunning rebuke to the NFL and to the power of Commissioner Roger Goodell.”
Tulane law professor Gabe Feldman, director of the school’s sports law program, told Newsday back in August, “The potential road to victory in this case for the NFL is clear. Arbitration awards are, as a matter of law, difficult to overturn.”
But a simple look back through history shows that when a Brady goes to court, a Brady wins in court. In fact, Tom is far from the first Brady to win big in court.
Here is a look back at some of legal history’s other winning Brady’s:
Brady v. Maryland (1963)
In this landmark Supreme Court case, John Brady claimed his conviction for murder to be unconstitutional because, while he admitted to participating in a robbery, a companion, Donald Boblit, did the actual killing. (Boblit was also convicted of first-degree murder.) Brady’s argument, similar to that of Tom Brady, was that his rights to due process were violated.
Brady’s attorneys argued that prosecutors failed to provide Brady’s defense team with Boblit’s statement, in which he admitted to committing the actual killing, until after the trial and conviction.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brady, saying that the government has a duty to disclose all material evidence to the defense, even if that evidence is exculpatory — likely to be to the benefit of the defendant. The case is considered by many to be one of the most significant rulings made by the Court in the field of criminal due process.
Brady remained imprisoned until 1973, when he was granted clemency and released.
Printz v. United States (1997)
Though this case does not involve a party named Brady, and though it came with both wins and losses for both sides, its impact on the side of Brady has had a long and far-reaching impact.
On March 30, 1981, White House Press Secretary James Brady was one of four people shot in the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. The injuries he suffered left him confined to a wheelchair, but Brady and his wife Sarah became leading gun-control advocates.
President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act into law in 1993, requiring a five-day waiting period for a background check on handgun sales. The National Rifle Association filed lawsuits in several states, the suits ultimately reaching the SCOTUS in the form of Printz v. United States.
In their argument, the NRA’s attorneys told the Court “the whole statute must be voided.” The Court would ultimately vote 5-4 in favor of the NRA, but only on the interim provisions of the bill that states be forced to conduct background checks by the federal government, but did not strike down the five-day waiting period provision in its entirety.
The impact of the law actually had little effect on the Brady Bill as nearly all states and local agencies support background checks. Rather, the decision had a greater impact in supporting states’ rights over federal power.
Duggan v. Brady (1972)
While pulling out of a parking lot in her family’s trusted station wagon, Carol Brady is involved in a minor fender bender with Harry Duggan. While the accident seemed minor enough, Duggan sued Brady in small-claims court, alleging serious injury from the accident.
After much digging through her memory, soul-searching, and angst with husband Mike and some of her kids (including her oldest, Greg and Marsha), Carol found herself staring down Duggan before a judge.
Duggan, complete with neck brace, offered a compelling case to the judge, despite the fact that the Brady’s felt convinced any “injury” suffered by Duggan could not be so severe. Just when all seemed lost, Mike had an ingenious idea.
He threw his briefcase onto the courtroom floor, creating a bang so loud that it startled the court — and brought Duggan to instinctively turn his head immediately toward the noise, proving to the judge he indeed was not injured. The judge immediately ruled for the defendant, another victory on the side of Brady.
