Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review Volume 2 Number 1 Article 5 1-1-1982 Violence in Professional Sports: Is it Time for Criminal Penalties? Richard B. Perelman Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/elr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Richard B. Perelman, Violence in Professional Sports: Is it Time for Criminal Penalties?, 2 Loy. L.A. Ent. L. Rev. 75 (1982). Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/elr/vol2/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. VIOLENCE IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS: IS IT TIME FOR CRIMINAL PENALTIES? By RichardB. Perelman* I. INTRODUCTION The problem is well-known among sports fans. Violence in pro- fessional sporting events has reached almost epidemic proportions. Al- most all daily newspapers report about hundreds of penalty minutes for brawls in National Hockey League (NHL) games, fistfights in National Basketball Association (NBA) contests and about injuries suffered in National Football League (NFL) battles.' Recent commentary has ex- amined new case law in the area2 and the possibility of civil suit to redress damage.3 The criminal law confronted the problem in the form of a bill introduced in 1980 in the House of Representatives by Rep. Ronald M. Mottl.4 The bill would have penalized convicted offenders * B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1978.