First Page
861
Abstract
Part I addresses the historical and legal significance of Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as applied to female athletics. Part II then provides an overview of the landmark litigation in the continuing legal saga of Communities for Equity v. MHSAA, detailing the claims presented by the plaintiffs and the defenses offered by the MHSAA in justification of its policy. Part III then examines the recent trend of Title IX litigation in federal courts in light of this most recent Sixth Circuit ruling. After almost ten years of litigation, the combination of holdings in the Communities for Equity cases have led to both an excessively high standard of scrutiny and an overly broad applicability that ultimately may negatively impact girls' sports by decreasing female participation--the very goal Title IX seeks to ensure. Finally, Part IV addresses the immediate implications of the lawsuit and the possible options that remain for the MHSAA in response to the most recent ruling.
Recommended Citation
Jane Hefferan,
Changing Seasons, Changing Times: The Validity of Nontraditional Sports Seasons Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause,
9 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law
861
(2020)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw/vol9/iss3/9