Sanders to present paper at Baseball Hall of Fame
Will outline how baseball, law are "permanently linked"
JUNE 2, 2009 -- Alex Sanders, chairman of the Board of the Charleston School of Law, has been selected by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., to present a paper Wednesday during ceremonies.
His paper, entitled William S. Stevens (1948 - 2008) and "The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule," will be a part of the 21st Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture.
"My paper will show the world's most hysterical baseball fans, gathered at the Hall of Fame, how the origins and practice of baseball and law are permanently linked to each other," Sanders said.
The main subject of the paper is a Philadelphia lawyer named William S. Stevens, who died in December. Stevens is widely credited with having revolutionized legal writing and how lawyers and judges think about the law.
In the paper, Sanders demonstrates that baseball and law are inextricably entwined in history and practice. He quotes a wide variety of authorities in support of his proposition, including Supreme Court justices, appeals court judges, law professors, Ted Williams, Lewis Grizzard, Vince McMahon and himself.
The paper concludes with a discussion about U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor, nominated last week to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Baseball dominated the commentary on her nomination," Sanders said. "Of all hundreds of cases she has decided as a judge, President Obama mentioned only her decision against the major league baseball owners, ending the 1994-95 baseball strike: 'Some say that Judge Sotomayor saved baseball,' he said. Hispanic New York State Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, commenting on the fact Judge Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, said, 'This is a Jackie Robinson moment.'"
Sanders was assisted in writing the paper by Katie Fowler, a recent graduate of the Charleston School of Law and Editor-in-Chief of the Charleston Law Review."
For further information, Sanders can be reached at 843-953-5755 or 943-577-6572 and goffp@cofc.edu.
- More information: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996.