WASHINGTON — When lifelong hockey fan Mark G. Weinberg won a court case upholding his right to sell his highly critical book about Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz outside the team's stadium, he scored it as a victory for the underdog.
But the Goliaths of sports have lined up against him, citing post-Sept. 11 security concerns in hope of persuading the U.S. Supreme Court to strip him of the win.
Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League contend the ruling that overturned a 1995 peddling ordinance could allow terrorists bent on wreaking mayhem at a crowded Chicago sports event to disguise themselves as vendors.
"Remote though such dangers may be, they support deference to Chicago's ordinance," attorney Daniel Hildebrand wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief for the leagues and two Chicago sports facilities — the United Center, home of the Bulls and Blackhawks, and U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide this fall whether to schedule a hearing in the case or let the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling stand.
Weinberg, 41, a graduate of the University of Chicago law school who practices civil rights law, scoffs at the leagues' arguments.
"There's no reason to believe that peddlers are terrorists. It's absurd," he said. "The teams are using the fears associated with terrorism and 9/11 to selfishly foster their economic interests."
Wirtz and the leagues declined to comment.
The ordinance bans peddling of any merchandise, except newspapers, on public right of way within 1,000 feet of the United Center. It also requires anyone who wants to sell merchandise on private property within the area to hold a valid peddler's license.
City officials say the ordinance was passed to deal with congestion problems. The city also restricts peddling outside other arenas.
In December 2000, Weinberg began selling his 156-page, softcover book — Career Misconduct: The Story of Bill Wirtz's Greed, Corruption, and the Betrayal of Blackhawk Fans — for $13 outside the United Center.
Two months later, Chicago police ordered Weinberg to stop. He did, but only long enough to sue in federal court.
At first, a temporary restraining order allowed him to resume peddling his book, but then he was forced to stop again when a federal magistrate upheld the ordinance. The appeals court later overturned that ruling, calling the ordinance an impermissible prior restraint on free speech.
"The city has provided no objective evidence that traffic flow on the sidewalk or street is disrupted when Mr. Weinberg sells his book," the 7th Circuit said. "The city offered no empirical studies, no police records, no reported injuries, nor evidence of any lawsuits filed."
Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city, said Chicago's pursuit of Weinberg was based on "normal enforcement." She said the city appealed to the Supreme Court out of concern that peddlers will crowd the streets outside sports venues.
"The reason that (Weinberg) created no significant congestion was that everyone else was obeying the no-peddling law," the city argues in its high court brief. "The first illegal peddler will rarely pose significant problems, but that does not mean that he is entitled to any special immunity from regulation."
Weinberg, who previously targeted Blackhawks management when he created and sold alternative game programs outside the team's arena through most of the 1990s, said he expects the Supreme Court to vindicate him.
After that, he said, he plans to seek $50,000 in damages from the city, including an estimated $7,000 to cover lost book sales. He said he has sold 5,000 books so far, including 3,000 around the United Center.