Governor Signs Assault Bill - Re Officials

[J.E.B. Stuart]

'Assault' Bill Passed And Signed (1-2-02)

Gov. Don Siegelman signed on Dec. 28 the legislation making it a specific crime to assault sporting event officials in the State of Alabama.

The legislation, which passed the House by a 75-1-1 vote Dec. 19, increases the punishment for crimes of harassment, menacing and assault of sports officials. The Senate had passed the bill a week earlier by a 31-0-0 vote.

Alabama becomes the 16th state with legislation that protects its sports officials from such behavior.

This legislation has been supported by the AHSAA since it was first introduced in 1997 by Rep. Blaine Galliher of Gadsden. The legislation was introduced again in 2001 by Rep. Gerald Allen of Tuscaloosa and Sen. Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham.

“The AHSAA would like to thank Gov. Siegelman and the Alabama Legislature for their foresight in this matter," said Dan Washburn, Executive Director of the AHSAA. "Again we thank Sen. Smitherman and Rep. Allen for spearheading the passage of this legislation that increases the penalties for this type of behavior against sports officials. This law will help deter the actions of some people against officials at all levels.”

The definition of sports officials in this bill includes administrators, coaches and officials in youth leagues, high schools and colleges.

The bill makes it a specific crime to harass, menace or assault a sports official in the first, second and third degree if the crime is committed against a sports official that is performing official duties at a sports event.

National reaction came from Barry Mano, president of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO).

“We’re extremely pleased that this legislation has passed, “ he said. “The men and women that officiate sporting events in Alabama should be proud that their state is now one of 16 with the foresight to protect them from egregious behavior, which is becoming all too common.”

http://www.ahsaa.com/

 

[BamaDevO]

Sounds good when you first read it, but I want to read into it a little further.

 

[tidehawk]

See my comments on the same topic on the football board...

 

[bamajake]

It took me a little while to find your post tidehawk, but I found it. Good post. I have long felt that, particularly in youth leagues, it would be a great idea to start the season with a jomboree type day where the parents of the kids have to officiate a portion of a game so they can see what its like to officiate. Maybe then some of them would back off a little bit.

By the way, the new assault bill does not prevent fans from yelling at officials during the game. Most officials don't hear that anyway. I know that I don't unless I hear profanity or, in youth games, hear something directed at a player for the other team that is distracting or inappropriate.

 

[Jref]

Bamajake, maybe you could give us a couple of examples of the differences between "harassment" and "menacing".

(Please use layman's language. This <u>ain't</u> the courthouse!)

 

[J.E.B. Stuart]

Folks. I am going to give you some back ground from a retired 25-year sports official. I called tackle and flag football, basketball, baseball, slow and fast pitch softball for 25 years in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and in Germany when I was stationed there for 10 years. I have called Alabama high school football and "white hatted" a few playoff games in my time. I was stationed at Fort McClellan two tours for a total of 4 years and worked out of the East Alabama Officials Association there.

I took a college course in sports officiating and had many, many clinics, especially in Germany. The military was very good at bringing over NFL, MLB and NBA officials to cover their sports. I got to attend baseball clinics by major league umpires and NFL refs. These were very valuable course.

In all those years, I was assaulted once, in Giessen, Germany, back about 1978 or so. I called a community level women's game one Sunday. The Giessen team beat the Frankfurt team very very badly. By about 40 or so points I think. After the game, as I and my other fellow official approached the scorers table, the coach of the Frankfurt team, standing behind two or three of his women players, threw one punch over the top of the shoulder of one of the women and it hit me in a glancing blow off the left eye. I and several others immediately went after the guy and he ran to the shower room and tried to hide. The MPs were called and he was arrested.

A couple of weeks later, his company commander brought charges for assault against him under the UCMJ and gave him an Article 15, nonjudicial punishment, for the assault. His commander asked me if I would agree to accept an apology from this guy as his punishment and not ruin his military career. I worked in legal and knew all the rules, facts of the assault, and what it would mean if I said no to the commander. I told the commander, NO, I would not accept his apology, because it was not meant as a real apology, just as a way to keep the punishment against him down and not hurt his career, that he should have thought about that before he struck me. I have never figured out how he came to think that me and my other official were responsible for his team losing by 40-points. Anyway, I later learned that the commander slammed him with a reduction in rank and took away pay. He was banished by the military sports program from coaching any future teams, dismissed as the team coach and screwed up his career.

Did I feel bad for him. No. I have seen many officials at many levels assaulted after games. My crew in Alabama had to be taken off the field by the police down in LaFayette one Friday night after my back judge called a penalty late and the result was a TD shortly there after for the other team and LaFayette lost. Of course, we did not fumble all those times, miss the passes, drop any passes, clip on kick returns, hold on running plays, or such, but we were responsible for the visitors winning, according to the LaFayette fans.

I have called games with guys who were not very good and did not put any effort into their games. I made it plane to my assignment secretaries that I did not want that person on my crews again because they could not call worth a crap. I worked hard to make sure that I did everything I could to make the right calls. Yes, we blow some.

I also remember, that after having to call a double header baseball game behind the plate in Germany one hot Sunday afternoon because I was the only plate qualified ump available, that one of the coaches came up and told me I only missed a "couple of pitches" today! I considered that a perfect day. After you call a few hundred pitches and only miss a couple, you have had a fantastic day.

One defense of refs, at all levels. Angles are very important in calls. I have seen a photo of two NL umpires calling a play at 2B one time. One was calling the guy out and the other calling him safe!!! From two different angles, they saw entirely different results. I have in the past asked for help when blocked on a play. And, refs only have a split second and one look at a play. If we did not have replay from 15 different cameras, you might never have an argument. Even from those 15 angles, you have 15 different views. One view you can see it, another you cannot.

Just like the players are human and make human mistakes, so do officials. But, ill prepared officials, prejudice officials, and dumb, non-rule knowing officials hurt all officials. Common sense rules. I have always tried to call them as I saw them. I think I always did.

 

[bamajake]

I'll give your request a try Jref. The main difference between harassment and menacing is whether the victim is placed in fear of "imminent serious injury." If such a fear is present, it is menacing. If no such fear exists, it is not. For example, if you are leaving a baseball field and a fan says, "You should have your a$$ kicked," it is harassment. If he is drawing his fist back or waiving a baseball bat around and draws it back as he makes the comment, it is menacing. Sometimes, it is hard to tell the difference. What you have to look for to distinguish the two is whether there is a legitimate fear of serious injury. In my first example, while the fan was being rude, most umpires would not fear for their safety. With the second example, most would fear for their safety. Obviously, if the irate fan actually punches you or swings the bat at you, you move into the assault and battery areas.

What is harder to determine is what constitutes harassment. Under the law, harassment occurs when someone "strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise touches a person or subjects him to physical contact" with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm that person. Harassment also occurs when someone directs abusive or obscene language toward a person with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm him.

Generally speaking, if a person makes physical contact with another person intending to annoy, harass or alarm him, he is guilty of harassment. That means that if you are leaving the field and an irate fan comes up behind you and gives you a shove, he is guilty. By the same token, if the fan comes up to you as you leave the field and begins cursing you, he is probably guilty of harassment.

The difficulty in applying harassment to the sports officiating context will come with fans yelling at officials during the game. I do not believe that anyone expects that fans will be hauled away in droves for yelling at officials during the course of a game. That is, unless they go beyond the bounds of decency. Generally, the courts require the use of "fighting words" before they will convict someone of verbal harassment. What does that mean? Without going into the legal definition, suffice it to say that "fighting words" are words and phrases that are likely to cause a swift response from the intended target.

Some of us were at the Joe last year when a particular fan called the plate umpire a "big headed bum." The umpire thought that he called him another type of "headed bum." The umpire promptly ejected the fan from the stadium and security escorted him away. Had the fan actually said what the umpire thought he said, he would probably have been guilty of harassment. First, he thought he had used a particularly nasty obscenity. Secondly, the umpire obviously made a quick response to the comment. Hence, harassment. (As a side note, I was about 20 feet from the fan when he made his comment -- he did not say what the umpire thought he said.)

As you can see, what constitutes harassment is not always clear. It's kind of like Justice Black said about pornography, "I can't describe it, but I know it when I see it." Menacing is a little different. If you have a reasonable fear of serious injury, it is menacing.

In the athletic context, I do not think that the new law will make any real difference on the field. Fans will still be able to yell at officials and officials will continue to ignore them when they do so. It is the fan who actually comes onto the field or who approaches an official or coach following a game with bad intentions who will feel the sting of the new law.

 

[BamaDevO]

Don't you just love "wordy" posts?

It took me forever to get done reading this thread!
Thanks for the commentary guys.

 

[bamajake]

Sorry about that, folks. Sometimes the lawyer in me has to come out!

 

[Jref]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by BamaDevO:
Don't you just love "wordy" posts?

It took me forever to get done reading this thread!
Thanks for the commentary guys.</font>

You know, you ask a fella to reply in layman's terms and that's what you get.

It's like asking a watchmaker what time it is & he tells you how to build a grandfather's clock.

Thanks, anyway, BamaJake. At least we get the gist of the idea.

 

[newtonjg]

JEB
Very Interesting Post ! I agree with the guy ( I forgot who said it ) that suggested letting the parents ref in a spring type game . I had a similar exp last year . I am stationed at Fort Hood . ( Just in case you are reading this and are not military ; Fort Hood is the largest Army Post in the world with approx 43 , 000 soldiers stationed here . At all Army Bases one of the most important and popular sports is softball ). For some political reason it was decided that Softball refs / umps / score keepers would not fit in the budget . So the coaches of each team had to ump the game after the game we played . I have been playing organized Softball for 25 years and realized I had never attempted to call a game . They gave us a 30 minute instruction class and off we went . It turned out to much more difficult than I expected . It resulted in a new found respect for the Zebras .
I encourage all Parents / Fans to give it a try some day . Pick your favorite sport whatever it is and volunteer . You will have a new perspective .
RTR