MHSAA Petition Filed In Seasons Litigation

EAST LANSING, Mich.  – Aug. 31 –  The Michigan High School Athletic Association met the 14-day (August 30) deadline for filing a petition for a rehearing or rehearing en banc in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in its sports season litigation.

The petition cites division within the ruling of the three-judge panel on Aug. 16, and discrepancies on key issues between the recent ruling and previous decision of the Sixth Circuit, other federal circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Amicus briefs in support of further judicial review have been filed by the Michigan Association of School Boards, the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan.

The decision by the Sixth Circuit on whether to grant a rehearing or rehearing en banc or to deny the petition could be received in a few weeks or months.

 The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,800 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition.  No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools.  Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.