NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – UFC fighters are fighting to change New York’s law on combative sports.
Zuffa LLC, doing business as Ultimate Fighting Championship, filed a lawsuit on Sept. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Eric T. Schneiderman, current attorney general of the state of New York; Vincent G. Bradley, current commissioner and chairman of the New York State Liquor Authority; and Kevin Kim, current commissioner of the New York State Liquor Authority; challenging N.Y. Unconsolidated Law 8905-a, the Combative Sports Law (CSL).
The complaint states that the CSL is "so badly written that neither ordinary persons nor state officials are able to say with any certainty what it permits and what it prohibits." As a consequence, it has allegedly been victim to arbitrary and discriminatory interpretations. The plaintiff argues that this discriminatory interpretation of the CSL has made mixed martial arts matches classified as illegal in the state of New York, making it difficult for the promotion and participation of the art.
The plaintiff is demanding a declaration that the CSL and the 2001 Liquor Law violates the due process clause of the United States because it is unconstitutionally vague as applied to MMA, an injunction prevent the defendants from enforcing the CSL and 2001 Liquor Law against MMA events, attorney fees and court costs, and any other rewards deemed just. They are represented by Jamie A. Levitt and Steven T. Rappoport of Morrison & Foerster, LLP in New York, N.Y.; the offices of Bancroft PLLC in Washington, D.C.; and Barry Friedman of New York, N.Y.
U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York case number 1:15-cv-07624-KMW