Baseball Union To Fight Steroids Ruling

Players Association Opposing Order To Turn Over Urine Of Those Who Tested Positive In 2003

(AP)  Major League Baseball's players' association will fight a federal appeals court's decision to give prosecutors access to the names and urine samples of about 100 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003.

If Wednesday's decision "is allowed to stand, it will effectively repeal the Fourth Amendment for confidential electronic records," wrote Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, in a statement Thursday.

The court's 2-1 ruling could help authorities pinpoint the source of steroids in professional baseball. It also could bolster the perjury case against Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who is under investigation for telling a grand jury he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Michael Rains, Bonds' attorney, disagreed. "It doesn't help their case against him," he said.

Fehr said he was consulting with union attorneys to "determine what our next step should be in our fight to protect the constitutional rights, including the basic right to privacy, of our members."

Options include asking the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case with the same three judges, petitioning the court to hear the case with 15 judges or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. Any appeal, even if unsuccessful, could delay the government from getting the records for months or more.

The samples were collected at the league's direction as part of a survey to gauge the prevalence of steroid use. Players and owners agreed in their labor contract that the results would be confidential.

The players' union sued to keep the government from accessing the records, saying the seizures violated the players' constitutional rights.

Wednesday's 120-page decision overturned a lower court that sided with the players. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco had quashed the subpoenas, ruling they constituted harassment and were unreasonable.

U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan of San Francisco praised the appellate court's finding that the government's "use of grand jury subpoenas were reasonable."

The government's investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a Burlingame supplements lab at the center of the steroid scandal, already has resulted in guilty pleas from BALCO president Victor Conte, Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson, BALCO vice president James Valente, chemist Patrick Arnold and track coach Remi Korchemny.

Indictments are pending against cyclist Tammy Thomas and track coach Trevor Graham.

[cantshutup]

wow...i guess these guys can afford the very best lawyers...too bad it's not really about protecting they're constitutional rights....well, if they shut baseball down maybe we'll get to see more soccer and hockey on tv?

[valendug]

That's only the one hundred that were caught. Not mentioning out of how many tests and which athletes were given warning ahead of time to clean up. Only indicates to me that Bonds was probably on that list multiple times, not just once. As probably were others.

[grumpas]

Our government wastes a good deal of our tax dollars on trying to control people's behavior! The war on drugs is not just a failure, it's been a 30 to 40 year failure! That's how long they have been trying to control it(it's just gotten worse)! I can remember when Nixon started the so called "war on drugs"! I would much rather see the money spent on the child who needs $900 dollars a month medication than on trying to curb bad behavior! It's a waste of time and money! They tried to control alcohol in the 20's and this country saw one of the worst era's for crime! I just don't think these do gooders are ever going to get it though! They don't seem to ever comprehend what is in front of their noses!

[gramto7]

It really bothers me to think that our courts/government will waste money going after records of baseball-player steroids users, but they make my daughter go through hell every other month to get assistance paying for her 7-year-old son's seizure medication, which costs over $900 a month. None of my immediate family is rich enough to be able to afford that. Shoot, my income is only $760 a month. My parents, aged 79 and 72, are both on SS and have small retirements from their working years, but are far from well-to-do. They are still paying a mortgage, just like I am.

Why is it so important to access the records that were only allowed on the promise that they would be kept confidential? Why does our dear government once again have to take away more of our privacy? If it happens to the players, I feel sure it will happen to me and you.

[bluestardad]

Hey you overpaid doper pimps, shut up and take your medicine.

[agnim]

"it just grosses me out that the history books show him as being a better home run hitter than Willie Mays and Babe Ruth.

Posted by SamTheTVCat at 04:02 AM : Dec 28, 2006"
Eat your little heart out! LOL

You need to read the actual history of Ruth to recognize his many flaws, including the strange things he used to put in his body to give him a playing edge. LOL

[marge70]

When did use of steroids become illeagal??????

[getserious1]

thewordengin:

Seems to me you got it right. This is a total waste of OUR money! I could care less if Bonds took them or not, as at the time, many of the players (including PITCHERS) were taking steroids. There are many more important issues for our politicians to confront than drug use in Baseball players (or any entertainer for that matter.) Let the MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL.etc police it themselves. Isn't this what we do in the workplace by allowing employers to administer drug tests? Get the government OUT OF MY HOUSE!

[samthetvcat]

You think the Feds'll publish names to the players who have tested positive? There's like a ton of them who keep claiming they've been unjustly accused, not just Bonds . . . I'm dying to know who the cheaters are.

I really hope with these results they're able to pressure some players to turn on Bonds's trainer - it just grosses me out that the history books show him as being a better home run hitter than Willie Mays and Babe Ruth.

Not sure about the timing of these tests though . . . it says MLB conducted the tests in 2003, but was that before or after the whole Balco thing became public? Like didn't the international testing world lack the capacity to detect Balco's steroids until somebody snitched on the Olympic circuit sometime in 2003? I don't know . . .

[thewordengine]

Can we please eliminate victimless crimes. What we put into our bodies is not the government's business. The war on drugs has been a costly failure and will never curb usage.

[agnim]

Athletes shouldn't be role models for children.

If children are that badly in need of role models, then we need to FIX AMERICA'S DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES; and stop deluding ourselves that athletes can take up the slack and be parents to children they don't know and don't own.

[agnim]

"Are you saying steriods use is not dangerous to your health? You've got to be kidding me.

Posted by amythest1959 at 05:56 PM : Dec 27, 2006"

I'm suggesting that steroids pose no clear and PRESENT DANGER, and certainly no harm to the society! Steroids are administered all the time.

If a citizen wants to take steroids, that's his business.
This persecution of steroid users is misguided.

Maybe athletes/adults shouldn't drink beer or do OTHER ADULT ACTIVITIES, because they are your 'role model'? Tsk-tsk

[amythest1959]

Are you saying steriods use is not dangerous to your health? You've got to be kidding me. Do you know what steroids do to your heart and liver? Not to mention that athletes are role models, and taking drugs is not exactly the behavior you want your kids to idolize. Then what, because one player takes steroids, in order to keep a level playing field everyone needs to take steroids as well? That's ridiculous. That just tarnishes baseball's name and makes it less appealing...to me at least.

[mrvolleyba11]

Steroids are dangerous and Athletes are not role models! They are professionals that get paid to play a sport and if you explain that to your kids then maybe they won't look up to them as a possible role model. They have no legal reason to live a certian life style because of children, that is what parenting is for! If athletes are role models then so are politicians, actors, ect, etc. You don't hear any noise about them setting a bad example for children.

[amythest1959]

Are you saying steriods use is not dangerous to your health? You've got to be kidding me. Do you know what steroids do to your heart and liver? Not to mention that athletes are role models, and taking drugs is not exactly the behavior you want your kids to idolize. Then what, because one player takes steroids, in order to keep a level playing field everyone needs to take steroids as well? That's ridiculous. That just tarnishes baseball's name and makes it less appealing...to me at least.