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Lance Armstrong Files Suit on Monday, July 9, 2012, To Block Doping Charges. Within Hours Federal Judge Dismisses Suit, Criticizes Armstrong’s ‘Desire for Publicity’

Jul 9, 2012  •  Post A Comment

"Within seven hours of Lance Armstrong filing a lawsuit that sought to block the United States Anti-Doping Agency from punishing him for alleged doping violations, a federal judge in Austin, Tex., struck down the complaint," reports The New York Times.

The article continues, "Sam Sparks, of United States District Court, chastised Armstrong’s lawyers for submitting an 80-plus page complaint filled with allegations that ‘were totally irrelevant to Armstrong’s claims.’ Sparks said the court was left to presume that the lengthy list of allegations ‘were included solely to increase media coverage of this case, and to incite public opinion against’ the antidoping agency and Travis Tygart, the agency’s chief executive who is also named as a defendant."

Armstrong and his attorneys were told they could refile the suit within 20 days "but only if he limits his pleadings to information that is legally relevant to his case," the Times reports.

In the lawsuit that Armstrong and his lawyers filed earlier today, July 9, 2012, they claimed that  U.S. Anti-Doping Agency "rules violate athletes’ constitutional right to a fair trial, and that the agency doesn’t have jurisdiction in his case. It also accuses USADA’s chief executive, Travis Tygart, of waging a personal vendetta against the cancer survivor who won the Tour de France every year from 1999 to 2005," according to the Associated Press.

The Times also notes that Judge Sparks wrote in rejecting the lawsuit that "This Court is not inclined to indulge Amstrong’s desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement or vilification of Defendants, by sifting through eighty mostly unnecessary pages in search of the few kernels of factual material relevant to his claims.”

During the record seven consecutive years that Armstrong won the Tour de France the broadcast of that bicycling race drew increasingly higher ratings on TV.

4 Comments

  1. Sounds like the judge has already made up his mind about whether Armstrong’s is guilty or not. Got to love a judge that already knows how he will decide a case even before hearing evidence. Looks like Armstrong chose the wrong judge to file his case. I don’t know if Armstrong is guilty or innocent but multiple people and organizations have examined him and found him innocent. Now this Travis Tygart has determined he is guilty without any new evidence. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

  2. skeptical observer:
    Please explain how “this Travis Tygart has determined he is guilty without any new evidence.” Otherwise, your comments will be regarded as BS rhetoric.

  3. I thought skeptic was referring to the judge, not to the USADA chief. Appy polly logies

  4. Sounds to me like the judge just doesn’t have any patience for a lot of B.S. Good for him, I wouldn’t either.

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