Page 32 - Florida Sentinel 12-25-20

National
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear NCAA Case On Student Athlete Compensation
The college players should get paid. The NCAA, universities and coaches are making millions from the college players, mer- chandise and TV deals.
Michael Jackson’s Estate Wins Appeal In $100 Million ‘Leaving Neverland’ Lawsuit
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Wednes- day to take up an appeal by the National Collegiate Athletic Asso- ciation to a lower court ruling that allows colleges to compensate athletes for education-related ex- penses.
A panel of judges on the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that the NCAA vi- olated federal antitrust law when it barred schools from certain ex- penditures for student athletes, and in August, Justice Elana Kagan denied a request from the group to freeze the circuit court's ruling, clearing the way for it to go into effect.
"Even as the debate over paying
college athletes has unfolded across the country -- and in the lower courts -- the Supreme Court has, until now, stayed out of it. The decision to take up this issue today does not signal how the court is likely to come out, but certainly tees up a major ruling on the issue by the beginning of next summer," said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.
The group praised the court's decision on Wednesday, saying it's pleased the justices "will re- view the NCAA's right to provide student-athletes with the educa- tional benefits they need to suc- ceed in school and beyond."
An appeals court has handed down a win for Michael Jackson’s estate by allowing it to pursue arbitra- tion in its lawsuit against HBO.
The estate sued HBO for $100 million on the grounds that its 2019 Leaving Never- land documentary, which al- leges that Jackson sexually abused children, broke a 27- year old confidentiality clause from 1992’s Dangerous con- cert film.
In a ruling, December 14, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals up- held a motion that will allow the estate to take its dispute to arbitration.
It had previously been ap- pealed by HBO, which claimed the clause is irrelevant and that the estate was attempting to silence victims of abuse.
The panel ruled that the ‘contract contained a broad ar- bitration clause that covers claims that HBO disparaged Jackson in violation of ongo- ing confidentiality obliga- tions’, as reported by Variety.
However, it added that the suit could be ‘frivolous’, say-
MICHAEL JACKSON AND NEVERLAND
ing, ‘We may only identify whether the parties agreed to arbitrate such claims; it is for the arbitrator to decide whether those claims are mer- itorious.’
Arbitration is a private dis- pute resolution procedure under which an agreed inde- pendent party will rule on the dispute, after both sides pres- ent their arguments and evi- dence.
The Jackson estate attor- neys, Howard Weitzman and Jonathan Steinsapir, welcomed the decision.
They said:
The trial judge and now the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have unanimously rejected HBO’s arguments. In the court’s own words, HBO ‘agreed that it would not make any disparaging remarks con- cerning Jackson.’ It’s time for HBO to answer for its vio- lation of its obligations to Michael Jackson.
HBO has argued that the 1992 contract expired once each party had fulfilled their individual requirements.
In its lawsuit, which was filed February 2019, the Jack- son estate claims that HBO had fabricated lies with a fi- nancial motive.
Richest Woman In The World Gifts $25M To HBCU
MacKenzie Scott, a nov- elist and philanthropist, has donated $25M to Mississippi’s Alcorn State University. This is the largest single donation that the HBCU has received in the school’s 149-year history. Scott was once married to Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos.
“This gift is truly transfor- mational and we are humbled by Ms. Scott’s generosity,” said Felecia M. Nave, the President of Alcorn. “It will more than double the size of our endowment. The gift will allow the University to en- hance its academic offerings and make much-needed in- vestments to continue Alcorn’s mission as the nation’s first public, historically black, land- grant university.”
Scott is known for her gen- erosity—she has donated $6 billion to various U.S.-based
MACKENZIE SCOTT AND HBCU
initiatives in 2020 alone. Scott has also donated to the following HBCU’s: Bowie State University ($25M), Claflin University ($20M), Clark Atlanta University ($15M), Delaware State Uni- versity ($20M), Dillard Uni- versity ($5M), Elizabeth City State University ($15M), Lin- coln University Pennsylvania ($20M), Morgan State Univer-
sity ($40M), Norfolk State University ($40M), North Car- olina A&T State University ($45M), Prairie View A&M University ($50M), Tougaloo College (unknown amount), University of Maryland at Eastern Shore ($20M), Vir- ginia State University ($30M), Voorhees College (unknown amount) and Winston-Salem State University ($30M).
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