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- Title
Athletes Sacked by Moral Turpitude Clauses: Presumed Guilty Unless Proven Innocent.
- Authors
Buono, Kira N.
- Abstract
President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Sports are good because they encourage a true democratic spirit; for in the athletic field the man must be judged not with reference to outside and accidental attributes, but to the combination of bodily vigor and moral quality which go to make up prowess." This Note discusses the need for a standard for athletes to determine whether or not their actions comport with this moral quality within thenathletic contracts. Moral turpitude is defined as conduct that is contrary to justice or community standards of honesty or morality * 1 2 Although the definition may seem standard and straightforward, in practice it is not. The ambiguous nature of this clause within the standard form contract allows the organizations to have great discretion over the athlete, who may have, and usually does have, less bargaining power than the organization. In order to clarify these contracts, a spectrum should be created in order for the athlete to determine whether their actions are deemed acceptable and legitimate under the laws binding their contract. Additionally, since judges express general discontent in presiding over matters dealing with sports, a specialized forum following criminal procedure guidelines should be created to ensure that organizations are not releasing athletes from their contracts without determining whether they violated moral turpitude provisions. In accordance with the axiom "innocent until proven guilty, " the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard should be used due to the highprofile and time-sensitive nature of an athlete's success in their sport.
- Subjects
UNITED States; ATHLETES; MORAL turpitude (Law); CRIMINAL law; AMERICAN athletes; PROFESSIONAL sports contracts; ETHICS
- Publication
New England Journal on Criminal & Civil Confinement, 2015, Vol 41, Issue 2, p367
- ISSN
0740-8994
- Publication type
Article