Opinion ID: 310823
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The High School League's Interest.

Text: 55 Because the defendant high schools have not provided teams for females in tennis and cross-country skiing and running, the effect of the High School League's rule is to completely bar Brenden and St. Pierre from competition in these non-contact interscholastic sports, despite their being fully qualified. The High School League argues, however, that its rule is justified in order to assure that persons with similar qualifications compete among themselves. They state that physiological differences between males and females make it impossible for the latter to equitably compete with males in athletic competition. 7 56 In evaluating the High School League's justification for their rule, we will, as we have indicated, apply the equal protection standard for evaluating non-suspect classifications. That standard is set forth in Reed v. Reed, supra 404 U.S. at 76, 92 S.Ct. at 254. 57    A classification 'must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and must rest upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation, so that all persons in similar circumstances shall be treated alike.'    (Citation omitted and emphasis added.)It has been pointed out that in applying this standard, the Supreme Court's definition of what constitutes a rational relationship has become more rigorous, and that the Court has become less willing to speculate as to what unexpressed legitimate state purposes may be rationally furthered by a challenged statutory classification. Green v. Waterford Board of Education, supra, 473 F.2d at 633. 58 We recognize that because sexbased classifications may be based on outdated stereotypes of the nature of males and females, courts must be particularly sensitive to the possibility of invidious discrimination in evaluating them, and must be particularly demanding in ascertaining whether the state has demonstrated a substantial rational basis for the classification. Compare, Reed v. Reed, supra, with Gunther, The Supreme Court, 1971 Term-Foreword: In Search of Evolving Doctrine on a Changing Court: A Model for a Newer Equal Protection, 86 Harv.L.Rev. 1, 34 (1972). See, Wark v. Robbins, 458 F.2d 1295, 1297 n. 4 (1st Cir. 1972); Sex Discrimination in High School Athletics, supra at 346-349, 370. This is especially true where the classification involves the interest of females in securing an education. 59 We believe that in view of the nature of the classification and the important interests of the plaintiffs involved, the High School League has failed to demonstrate that the sex-based classification fairly and substantially promotes the purposes of the League's rule. 60 (A) 61 First, we do not believe the High School League has demonstrated a sufficient rational basis for their conclusion that women are incapable of competing with men in non-contact sports. The trial court specifically found that the plaintiffs were capable of such competition and the evidence indicates that the class of women, like the class of men, includes individuals with widely different athletic abilities. As the Fifth Circuit has recognized in activities requiring physical strength, technique may be just as important as physical capacity. Weeks v. Southern Bell Telephone Company, 408 F.2d 228, 236 (5th Cir. 1969). And, [t]echnique is hardly a function of sex. Ibid. at 236. Furthermore, the record indicates that in non-contact sports, such as those involved here, factors such as coordination, concentration, agility and timing play a large role in achieving success. No objective evidence was introduced comparing males and females with respect to these factors. See, Sex Discrimination in High School Athletics, supra at 363. 62 Essentially, the testimony of those witnesses who concluded that females were wholly incapable of competing with men in interscholastic athletics was based on subjective conclusions drawn from the physiological difference between the sexes by individuals who were not themselves familiar with mixed competition. This subjective testimony is particularly susceptible to discrimination based on stereotyped notions about the nature of the sexes. 63 Furthermore, the High School League failed to show that it had established any objective nondiscriminatory minimum standards for evaluating qualifications for non-contact interscholastic athletics. The record indicates, in fact, that the schools had adopted no cut policies allowing male students, no matter how untalented, to participate in the non-contact interscholastic sports involved here. 64 We note that there is at least one systematic study of mixed competition in non-contact sports. In 1969, a rule of the New York State Department of Education prohibiting competition between males and females in non-contact sports was challenged. The Department reports: 65 Faced with the need for valid supporting data, the Education Department gathered all the evidence it could find on the matter Very little was reported in professional literature. In the limited number of experiences that came to its attention wherein girls competed on boys' teams (primarily at the college level), the only negative factor reported was that it was not yet socially acceptable for a girl to defeat a boy in athletic competition. Discussion with various medical personnel elicited a unanimous expression that there are no medical reasons to prohibit girls from competing on boys' teams in selected non-contact sports. Thus, it became clear that the Department had little or nothing to support its traditional position. It was then suggested that a moratorium be declared on a decision until some evidence could be gathered through experience. Thus, the experimental project came into being. 66 University of the State of New York, The State Department of Education, Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Report on Experiment: Girls on Boys Interscholastic Athletic Teams, March 1969-June 1970, 1 (February, 1972). 67 The Department then conducted an experiment in which one hundred schools over a sixteen-month period maintained athletic teams on which both males and females participated. The results of the experiment were overwhelmingly favorable to continuing mixed competition: 68 Should the practice of allowing girls to compete on boys' athletic teams be continued? Eighty percent of the principals, directors, women physical educators, coaches, and physicians involved in the experiment voted in favor of continuing the practice, either as an experiment or as legal policy. Slightly more than 90 percent of the boy team members, girl participants, parents, coaches and opposing coaches also favored continuation of the practice.    69 Id. at 4. As a result of the experiment, New York amended its rules to allow females to compete with males. 8 70 (B) 71 Second, even if we assume, arguendo, that, on the whole, females are unlikely to be able to compete with males in non-contact interscholastic sports, this fact alone would not justify precluding qualified females like Brenden and St. Pierre from such competition. Reed v. Reed, supra. Cf., Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972). 72 In Reed, the Court found unconstitutional a portion of the Idaho probate code which granted males a mandatory preference over females in competing for the right to administer an estate without regard for the individual qualifications of the female applicant. One of the reasons which the Idaho Supreme Court gave for upholding the statute was that the legislature when it enacted the statute evidently concluded that in general men are better qualified to act as an administrator than are women. Reed v. Reed, 465 P.2d 635, 638 (Idaho 1970). Because of this, in the Idaho Supreme Court's opinion, eliminating females from consideration is neither an illogical or arbitrary method devised by the legislature to resolve an issue that would otherwise require a hearing as to the relative merits    of the two or more petitioning relatives. Id. at 638. 73 The United States Supreme Court did not discuss the validity of the assumption that women are less qualified than men to be administrators of estates. Nonetheless, it concluded that the preference for men was arbitrary: 74    To give a mandatory preference to members of either sex over members of the other, merely to accomplish the elimination of hearings on the merits, is to make the very kind of arbitrary legislative choice forbidden by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment;    75 By providing dissimilar treatment for men and women who are    similarly situated, the challenged section violates the Equal Protection Clause.    76 Reed v. Reed, supra 404 U.S. at 76-77, 92 S.Ct. at 254. 77 In our view, Reed precludes a state from using assumptions about the nature of females as a class, to deny to females an individualized determination of their qualifications for a benefit provided by the state. 78 In the present case, the underlying purpose of the High School League's rule is, as we have indicated, to insure that persons with similar qualifications will compete with each other. Yet, females, whatever their qualifications, have been barred from competition with males on the basis of an assumption about the qualifications of women as a class. The failure to provide the plaintiffs with an individualized determination of their own ability to qualify for positions on these teams is, under Reed, violative of the Equal Protection Clause. See, Note, Sex Discrimination in High School Athletics, supra. 9 79 The High School League argues that invalidation of its rule will have an adverse impact on the future development of opportunities for females in interscholastic sports. This argument is too speculative to have merit, particularly in view of the recent statement of the Minnesota State Board of Education calling on its local boards to provide equal education opportunity for females, see, Eliminating Sex Bias in Education, supra, and the League's own stated commitment to interscholastic athletics for females. This argument certainly cannot be used to deprive Brenden and St. Pierre of their rights to equal protection of the law. With respect to these two females, the record is clear. Their schools have failed to provide them with opportunities for interscholastic competition equal to those provided for males with similar athletic qualifications. Accordingly, they are entitled to relief. See, Haas v. South Bend Community School Corporation, supra. 80 We are, of course, always reluctant to invalidate state and local action as unconstitutional. We have, however, no choice where a group of citizens has been deprived of the equal protection of the law. The likelihood of similar state action in this area being found unconstitutional in the future will be minimized if the League and the local school board affirmatively respond to the request of the Minnesota Department of Education to: 81    Review all State Board rules and regulations and take steps to eliminate all sex-based requirements for courses and extra-curricular activities for students. 82 [And]    Provide equal access for all pupils to local school facilities, programs, equipment, staff services, and financial resources. 83 Eliminating Sex Bias in Education, supra at 6. 84 Affirmed.