Supreme Court to hear private school's challenge to athletic-recruiting rule

The Associated Press

02.22.00

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(Editor's note: On Aug. 23, 2001, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell's ruling, which had granted summary judgment to Brentwood Academy. The appeals panel sent the case back to Nashville, Tenn., federal court and ordered Campbell to re-examine Brentwood Academy's First Amendment claims to determine if the TSSAA can justify its recruiting rule under a lower constitutional standard.)

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court today said it would decide whether some high school athletic associations can be sued for allegedly violating their members' rights.

The court agreed to hear arguments by a private high school in Tennessee whose lawyers say it can sue the state athletic association because the association acted on behalf of the state government.

Brentwood Academy, a private, religious school in Brentwood, Tenn., was described in court papers as "something of a high school football powerhouse."

In 1997, rival football coaches alleged that Brentwood violated rules of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. The school was accused of providing football tickets to two middle school athletes and of inviting some boys to join the football team for spring practice while they were still in the eighth grade.

The athletic association bars members from using "undue influence ... to secure or retain a student for athletic purposes." The association decided that the incidents violated its rules and put Brentwood on probation for four years, banned it from tournaments for two years and fined it $3,000.

Brentwood Academy sued, contending that the recruiting rule violates federal civil rights law and "undermines the basic tenets of the First Amendment by restricting expression based on content" and "depriving young people and their parents of information about other educational opportunities."

In July 1998, a federal judge ruled in favor of the school's motion for summary judgment, finding that TSSAA was a state actor and that the rule violated the First Amendment. The judge issued an order barring enforcement of the recruiting rule.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in June 1999, saying the athletic association could not be sued under the civil rights law because its decision was not government action. The civil rights law provides remedies only for government violations of people's rights.

In the appeal acted on today, Brentwood's lawyers said the athletic association was controlled by public school principals.

The athletic association's lawyers said it was a private organization whose rules are intended to keep schools from "treating school-aged children as athletes first and students second."

The case is Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, 99-901.