Some of you may have seen the story in the Times the other day about the
Beren Hebrew Academy in Houston, whose basketball team has reached the state
semi-finals of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools
tournament. The semifinal game was scheduled for tonight; the Academy is
Orthodox and observant, and could not play. The other school was willing to
reschedule, but the TAPPS Board voted 8-0 not to allow that. Most TAPPS
members are church affiliated, and as a matter of policy, it never schedules
games on Sunday.
Beren parents and students filed a lawsuit this morning in the Northern
District of Texas, alleging unconstitutional religious discrimination, Texas
RFRA, and breach of contract (based on a provision in the TAPPS bylaws). The
complaint's state action theory was that the game was scheduled to be played
in a public school gym, which is surely not enough. The contract claim
looked stronger, judging only by the complaint.
Richard Friedman at Michigan tells me that TAPPS caved as soon as the
complaint was filed, and that the game will begin imminently and will be
completed before sunset. If your position is utterly untenable as a matter
of public relations, it may not matter that the other side's state action
theory is very weak. But they had to file the lawsuit before common sense
could prevail.
Douglas Laycock
Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Virginia Law School
580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
434-243-8546
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