Most NFL fans know that Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder is the most hapless, inept, and narcissistic team owner in the league, spending millions upon millions of dollars on the once successful franchise while meddling in team affairs and ending up with a squad that seems to get worse every season. Few knew how petty and mean he was, however, until he was angered by an alternative media publication that published a reporter’s withering, exhaustive article last year, entitled “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder”, cataloging the full range of Snyder’s non-feasance, misfeasance, malfeasance, and plain old bone-headedness over his career. Snyder’s lawsuit, filed this week in New York, claims that the article contained “numerous outrageous, false and defamatory statements of and concerning” Snyder. “Simply put,” it says, “no reasonable person would accept the publication of these types of false, malicious, and/or defamatory statements about them or their spouses. Nor would any reasonable person tolerate an anti-Semitic caricature of himself or herself prominently displayed on the front pages of a newspaper containing false and malicious allegations.”

The lawsuit is ridiculous on many levels, but mostly because it is a classic frivolous action. Snyder is a public figure, and in Washington, D.C., an owner of the Redskins is mentioned in the newspapers as often as President Obama. Proving defamation when the target of criticism is as famous as Snyder is almost impossible, and when the individual’s fame comes under regular scrutiny from the indelicate sportswriting establishment, it is harder than that. Well, perhaps I take this back; maybe the most ridiculous thing in the lawsuit is Snyder’s Anti-Semitism claim. The graphics for the article were photos of Snyder defaced graffiti-style (See here and here), with crude scribbling, mustache, beard and horns drawn over his face. Any rational person, of course, would recognize the City Paper’s art as representing the Redskins fans’ disgust and anger at Snyder. Taking the graphics to be Anti-Semitism would be as absurd as arguing that, just to take a silly example out of the air, satiric song lyrics in “The Mikado”constitute a death threat to Sarah Palin.

The really despicable aspect of the lawsuit, however, is that Snyder’s obvious purpose in filing  it was to force The City Paper into firing the writer of the November article, City Paper veteran Dave McKenna. Here is a section from a letter written to The City Paper on Snyder’s behalf by the Redskins’ general counsel, threatening to file the suit:

“Mr. Snyder has more than sufficient means to protect his reputation.We presume that defending such litigation would not be a rational strategy for an investment fund such as yours. Indeed, the cost of litigation would presumably quickly outstrip the asset value of the Washington City Paper.”

The intent is pretty clear; the letter says, in effect, “We have enough money to litigate this phony suit but you don’t have enough money to defend it. It seems the most prudent approach is to make Mr. Snyder happy, and you know how to do that.” I should add that threatening bogus lawsuits as a form of financial extortion is unethical, and though this letter is cutely phrased to avoid giving a Bar disciplinary panel enough to take action, I think it is a breach of legal ethics.

Amy Austin, the editor of the City Paper, responded to Snyder’s threat this week, writing:

“It’s extremely unfortunate that Snyder believes that it is appropriate to threaten City Paper with litigation because he objects to our coverage. As a 30-year old newspaper and vibrant website committed to both in-depth news reporting and full-throated commentary, we do not believe that using the court system to stifle or chill free speech is ever appropriate. In this case, it’s especially shabby: As a well known public figure, Snyder has more than ample ability and resources to respond to coverage he does not like, including through his significant public relations apparatus. Lest there be any doubt, we have offered him a forum to do so in our pages, and that invitation stands. Should he elect to actually file a lawsuit, we have directed our counsel to defend the case vigorously.”

And file he did. As is often the case in these situations, the lawsuit has drawn more attention to the November piece that upset Snyder so much. It is a devastating article, made more so by the knowledge that the rest of Redskins season that followed was one of the most dispiriting yet. It also caused other journalists to make sport of the Redskins owner, notably this tongue-in-cheek “open memo” by award-winning Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten.

The sad aspect of this incident is that even though suing the City Paper is conduct completely consistent with the thesis of McKenna’s article, Snyder appears to be spiteful enough to carry through with it solely to get his vengeance against The City Paper, by forcing it to pay legal costs as the price for protecting McKenna. The paper is performing its professional courageously duty by refusing to allow Snyder’s millions to stifle the press, in contrast to the Missoula Community Theater’s board allowing political bullies to censor its theatrical production.

But if Dan Snyder gets his petty, selfish, vengeful way, the theater will still be operating next year, and The City Paper will not.