UFC sues state of New York on 1st Amendment grounds

**Rivington** · Posted On: 11/15/2011 3:22pm

From the New York Times:

For four years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has lobbied the New York State legislature to overturn its 1997 ban on live professional mixed martial arts fighting.

But it has failed. So on Tuesday the U.F.C. adopted a new strategy: it sued the state in Manhattan federal court saying that the prohibition is unconstitutional. The complaint accuses the state of enacting the ban because of the violent message it believes the sport conveys.
By doing so, the U.F.C. said, the state has violated its free speech rights protected by the First Amendment. The real intent of the ban, the organization alleges, is to “squelch its expressive element.”

Read the rest here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/sp...-fighting.html

I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect this argument is a bit weak. The state of NY doesn't bar cable companies from renting UFC PPVs, stores from selling UFC DVDs, local broadcast and cable companies from airing events in-state, etc. We'll see what happens!