When a Philadelphia Eagles fan scuffled with a security guard at the October 10 home game at Veterans Stadium, he landed a first row ticket to Eagles Court, the Honorable Seamus McCaffery presiding. It didn’t matter that the unruly fan was in fact the Eagles’ official mascot, “the Birdman.” McCaffery slapped the caped enthusiast with an unspecified fine to cover the victim’s expenses.
Not every judge would consider this a fun way to spend their Sunday afternoons during football season. But since May 1996, the 49-year old McCaffery has presided over a satellite courtroom devoted to football hooliganism. He’s even convinced ten other judges to take turns giving up their Sundays in front of the tube and hold forth in a courtroom at a police station near the stadium.
