Regulating Interscholastic and Youth Sports/First Amendment Issues
Courts defer to high schools and associations to make their own rules (courts typically step in when schools/associations break their own rules or the rules are illegal)
Bill of Rights/Con Law Questions with Sports
applies to public and not private entities
Analysis for a Con Law Question for Sports
(1) Is this a state actor? (Entwinement test from Brentwood)
(2) if state actor then go into analysis of the Con Law issue
Free Speech (schools ability to regulate
speech)
Free speech with regards to recruitment
associations can have rules that limit recruiting as long as don't restrict the schools ability to disseminate truthful information about the school (See Brentwood II)
in recruiting cases, courts look at the age of the athlete, the younger the more the court believes they are susceptible to pressure
Tinker: case that during the Vietnam war established that schools can not stop the peaceful demonstrations during school day if the protest does not disrupt the school
SC said in Tinker that schools can control speech off campus as long as the speech disrupts or infringes on the rights of others
loco parentis: "in place of parents"
schools given leeway compared to other entities because schools are designed to teach kids from right and wrong
Analysis for free speech issues (always do the state actor analaysis on the orange branch before doing this analysis)
Does the speech fit one of the three categories that schools can regulate which are (1) indecent/lewd speech (2) Speech promoting illegal drug use (3) speech bearing on the imprimatur of the school (example if the speech appeared in a school sponsored newspaper)
Tinker standard- Was there disruption
(disruption can not just be suppressing an opinion that is unpopular, schools have duty to protect unpopular opinions)
does loco parentis apply
Religious Freedom in Sports
at times the Establishment Clause can conflict with being able to practice your religion
Kennedy Bremerton: Court said a coach could pray by himself on school property and was fine when students joined him because he did not pray in the scope of his duties (he was engaged in private speech)
rules have to be religiously neutral, example: the transfer rule has to be neutral and can't favor students to transfer to a certain type of religious school
establishment clause: state can't favor a certain religion