Florida Attorney General to Launch Investigation Into MLB Over Religious Discrimination Allegations

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced today that his office is preparing to investigate Major League Baseball over its response to San Francisco Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their team-issued Pride Night caps.

Uthmeier argued that sports leagues have increasingly embraced political and social messages while treating expressions of Christian faith differently.

“Sports leagues, it’s supposed to be about fun, family entertainment, and instead they seem to continuously be pushing compelling left-wing ideologies,” Uthmeier said.

“And every time you hear these news reports, it’s always condemning Christian views. This is wrong.”

While acknowledging that teams can establish uniform policies, Uthmeier stated there are legal limits if those rules are enforced selectively.

“Sports teams and private companies can set some uniform rules,” he said. “But if they’re going out of their way to target people on their deeply held religious beliefs, that is wrong and probably illegal.”

The Florida attorney general said his office intends to examine whether MLB’s actions amount to religious discrimination.

“I don’t know what they’re doing as far as the Florida teams go. I know the bounds of my jurisdiction, but you’re darn right we’re going to look into it, and we’re going to hold them accountable if they are breaking the law,” Uthmeier said.

He added that investigators plan to seek information directly from the league.

“We’re going to send them some subpoenas. We’re going to ask questions, and at the end of the day, they’re going to have to explain why in 2020 they can change their uniform rules to let people write things down about social justice and Black Lives Matter, but when people want to talk about life, creation and redemption, suddenly there’s a problem.”

Uthmeier concluded, “That is wrong, and we’re going to investigate.”