Originally Posted by JusticePete
As I frequently remind everyone on C5, I am from Chicago. The courts cleared the 'Black' Sox and yet the Baseball Commissioner banned the players for the good of the game. Professional baseball is not a sport. It is a business regulated by the Commissioner of Baseball. The business of baseball conveniently turned a blind eye to the use of steroids while the home runs filled seats and boosted television ratings. It was all about money (and power) and had nothing to do with the integrity of the game.
The congressional steroid hearings were nothing more that the government finding yet another way to attempt to regulate an industry. Please notice they singled out players and not the owners with real wealth and power.
Armstrong has been convicted or cleared depending on perspective. It doesn't matter. Armstrong's guilt or innocence are red herrings in the debate over core issues. Let me count the ways his rights were trampled by the USADA.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people
The Olympics are not sport. The Olympics are big business that the USADA is attempting to regulate. Private non-profits are not agencies empowered by any state or federal law to regulate business. That did not prevent the USADA from moving from the Olympics to Cycling which again is a business and not a sport.
From the USADA website: The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is the national anti-doping organization for the Olympic movement in the United States.
Athletes are pawns. The real 'players' are never on the field.
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