Dartblog

I posted yesterday about the start of the New York Mets season and today the Supreme Court announced that they too are going to play ball. The Court said that they would hear a First Amendment case about fantasy baseball, specifically the use of MLB statistics in (for-profit) fantasy leagues. Interestingly Justices Stevens, Breyer, and Alito recused themselves due to personal participation in fantasy leagues, although Justices Ginsberg and Scalia who had played in the same leagues announced that they would hear the case. Eric Turkewitz, whose legal blog I have linked to above, noted that “The court is now deprived of a full 9-person team to field the case.”

Also to the Court’s newest Justice, pictured above participating in a Phillies baseball camp, a very happy 58th birthday!

Zak ADDS: Just because someone inquired (and because April Fool’s Day is now over) the above is not a serious story (although it was Justice Alito’s birthday yesterday!). No the Supreme Court did not take up a fantasy baseball case and no 1/3 of the highest Court did not recuse themselves for playing fantasy (and certainly not Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who I can hardly imagine cursing her 2nd baseman for not driving in enough RBIs).

In general it seems that the British media especially puts Americans to shame on the April Fool’s front. One exception in my day was getting woken up by a call from a friend who breathlessly told me about how President Bush and Vice President Cheney had both been shot and how Nancy Pelosi had moved in to the White House. My friend frantically regaled me with details of their trips to Jordan and Iraq respectively, the al Queda assassinations, and bin Laden tape, and for the 5 minutes while my computer booted up I was definitely had in a big way!