A 10-year-old case that originated in Tennessee was heard in the U.S. Supreme Court last week. It all began in 1997 when football coach Carlton Flatt of Brentwood Academy — a private school south of Nashville — sent letters to a dozen eighth-graders inviting them to attend Brentwood’s summer football camp.
The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) argued that the gesture violated their athlete recruitment policy. Brentwood countered that said policy restricts freedom of speech.
Back in 2001 the high court ruled in favor of Brentwood, saying that the TSSAA behaved in a quasi-governmental fashion. An appeals court also ruled in favor of the school, saying that the First Amendment protected the recruiting letters as an act of free speech.
The Court decided to reopen the case, however, and hopes to have the matter resolved by late June.
Hooray tax dollars!
