Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association v. Brentwood Academy
Brentwood Academy sued the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) alleging violations of the First Amendment after the TSSAA imposed a number of penalties on Brentwood for violating TSSAA's rule governing the recruiting of middle school student athletes. The rule prohibits the "use of undue influence on a student (with or without an athletic record), his or her parents or guardians of a student by any person connected, or not connected, with the school to secure or to retain a student for athletic purposes." The TSSAA punished Brentwood after its coach had sent a letter about spring football practice to students who had been admitted to Brentwood and signed enrollment contracts, but had not yet started classes. The TSSAA also punished Brentwood for giving two prospective athletes free tickets to one of Brentwood’s games.
The district court found that the TSSAA was a state actor and granted summary judgment to Brentwood on its First
Amendment claim. The TSSAA appealed that decision, and the Sixth Circuit reversed, on the basis that the TSSAA is not a state actor. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed the Sixth Circuit, holding that the TSSAA is a state actor. On remand, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the TSSAA's recruiting rule was content-neutral and subject to intermediate scrutiny under the First Amendment, and remanded the case to the district court for a trial on the First Amendment claim.
After trial, the district court ruled in favor of Brentwood on the First Amendment issue, holding that the application of the rule to Brentwood was not narrowly tailored to further the TSSAA’s legitimate interests in keeping athletics subordinate to academics and preventing the exploitation of student athletes. It also found that TSSAA had violated Brentwood's due process rights by not informing it of all the evidence being considered by the TSSAA and by not giving Brentwood an opportunity to reply to evidence. On appeal, the TSSAA argued that Brentwood, which had voluntarily joined the TSSAA, had signed a contract agreeing to abide by the recruiting rule. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court, finding that the presence of a contract did not insulate TSSAA's actions from First Amendment scrutiny.
Question Presented:
The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association is a voluntary association, composed primarily of public schools, which adopts rules governing athletic competition between its members. Brentwood Academy is a private school that voluntarily chose to join TSSAA and agreed to abide by its rules, but now claims a First Amendment right to continue competing while violating TSSAA’s rule against the use of “undue influence” in recruiting students for athletic purposes. The Sixth Circuit agreed, reasoning that Brentwood’s voluntary agreement is irrelevant to the constitutional analysis and declining to recognize any substantial state interest in fair and level athletic competition. The question presented in this case is:
Whether the Sixth Circuit correctly held, in conflict with decisions of this Court and other courts of appeals, that TSSAA violated the First Amendment and Due Process rights of Brentwood Academy when it imposed contractual penalties for
violations of the recruiting rule that Brentwood agreed to follow?
