In Ilya Shapiro's article "Loss for the Redskins, loss for free speech," published in USA Today on July 10, 2015, he address the use of Native American slurs in Washington, DC's NFL team name and trademark. Throughout the paper there are sound and logical arguments that appeal to the audience who may also be informed. Shapiro appears to be knowledgeable about the law including the First Amendment and how free speech should apply to the protection of names and logos used for team sports. .
USA Today is a nationally distributed newspaper whose intended audience are middle class citizens. While Shapiro's arguments may have an effect on like-minded readers sharing his opinion, most consumers of this publication may not pursue any further ventures into this topic after reading this article. There is no call to action to bring about change for this topic nor does Shapiro offer any suggestions of how to contribute to the debate. "Shapiro is a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute and editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review." Shapiro begins his article by claiming that there should not be an issue with the use of Redskins as a team name or logo because they are under the protection of the First Amendment. Furthermore he expresses his opinion that Judge Gerald Bruce Lee has misinterpreted the Constitution when Lee cancels the trademark registrations for the Washington Redskins team. He then wants the readers to be informed of a recent Supreme Court case that will now allow each states Departments of Motor Vehicles to regulate the production of state license-plates. This case allows states to decide for itself what it considers to be offensive speech, making the Redskins team name " first unintended causality." (Shapiro) Later in the article Shapiro fully develops his argument by stating that trademarks are not endorsed by the government and therefore they cannot be allowed to limit the use of speech that might be offensive.
