TORONTO: A judge decided the Cleveland Indians will not be banned from use of their full team name and logo during playoff games with the Toronto Blue Jays. The ruling comes after lawyers requested a court to ban the use of the team’s name and cartoon logo.
Some 27 lawyers representing the Cleveland Indians, Major League Baseball and the plaintiffs attended the hearing, which was moved to a larger court room because of the crowd.
The injunction had been sought by an activist, who filed complaints with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and Canadian Human Rights Commission on the issue. Attorneys argued that the combination of the team name and logo was racial discrimination and therefore a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code and Canada’s Human Rights Act.
A lawyer for the team argued that the requested ban was censorship and stated the court, where the matter was heard, wasn’t the appropriate place for the issue to be resolved.
Gosh, how long have the Cleveland Indians had that logo? If someone wanted to take issue with it, they had plenty of time. It’s like telling Mylie Cyrus she can’t stick her tongue out on stage because it violates decency standards. It’s her ‘brand’, always has been.