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Sports In The Courts: The Role Of Sports References In Judicial Opinions, Douglas E. Abrams

Douglas E. Abrams

Sports In the Courts: The Role of Sports References in Judicial Opinions by Douglas E. Abrams Abstract In cases with no claims or defenses concerning sports, the Supreme Court and lower federal and state courts frequently publish opinions that draw analogies to the rules or terminology of sports familiar to broad segments of the American people. Sports analogies can help the court explain factual or legal points because today’s generation, including the lawyers and litigants who comprise the prime audience for written opinions, grew into adulthood amid an unprecedented saturation of professional and amateur sports in the broadcast and print …