Court Opinion

ID: 9505482
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 20:05:27.30054+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:04:31.825147
License: Public Domain

BOEHM, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the majority that the injunction issued by the trial court did not put the THSAA on notice that simply taking an appeal without unilaterally abandoning its "restitution rule" would violate the order. For that reason I agree the contempt order must be vacated.
Even if I did not concur on the foregoing ground, I would reverse the contempt finding for a more fundamental reason. I cannot imagine cireumstances where it is appropriate for a trial court to hold a party in contempt for pursuing a nonfrivolous appeal. The right of appeal in civil matters is guaranteed by Article VII, Section 6 of our Constitution. WorldCom Network Servs., Inc. v. Thompson, 698 N.E.2d 1233, 1242 (Ind.Ct.App.1998); 24 George T. Patton, Jr., Indiana Practice § 4.11, at 69 (8d ed.2001). The trial court expressed understandable frustration with the reality that the effect of its injunction could be mooted by expiration of the basketball season before the conclusion of the IHSAA's appeal, which ultimately proved unsuccessful. Ind. High Sch. Athletic Ass'n v. Martin, 731 N.E.2d 1 (Ind.Ct.App.2000), trans. de-med. However, the remedy for this is for the affected party to seek an expedited appeal, not for the trial court to arrogate *1243to itself the role of final arbiter of this dispute by seeking to preclude appellate review of its own decision. Cf. In re M.B., 137 Ill.App.3d 992, 92 Ill.Dec. 299, 484 N.E.2d 1154, 1157 (1985) ("[Where fundamental constitutional rights are involved, we believe that the right to appeal without being held in contempt must be deemed to exist.").
The injunction enjoined the principal of Bishop Luers and those under her direction from enforcing the IHSAA decision that Martin was ineligible in the 2000 season. Despite the school's ability to cure the situation by allowing Martin to compete, the school chose not to permit her to join the team. No contempt citation was sought against the school, however. Under these circumstances, the school, not the IHSAA, refused to honor the injuncetion pending appeal. We are told the school did this based on its concern for the effect of the restitution rule. That would be a concern only if the injunction did not hold up on appeal. The school's remedy is the same as that available to Martin: seeking an emergency appeal. The odds of success in that endeavor may be small, but to the extent the courts are embroiled in these local spats over athletic eligibility, the litigants bear the disadvantages that resort to litigation entails for every other citizen who seeks to draw on public judicial resources to resolve a dispute.
These cases are competing for attention with litigants who claim the state's taxing structure is fatally flawed, that our disabled students are not afforded appropriate educational opportunities, and that our prison system is hopelessly overtaxed. Thousands of other cases-dissolutions, injuries, lost employment, and failed businesses-are, for the parties involved, among the most important matters in their lives. In an egregious case, the Court of Appeals may grant emergency relief. If that doesn't occur, the school, like all of these other citizens, can take its chances on an adverse outcome at the appellate level. If the school is correct and the athlete is found eligible at the end of the day, nothing happens, and the results of the school's games will stand. If not, the school, like any other litigant, bears the risk of having pursued litigation while making an incorrect evaluation of its pending claim.
Martin, having won at the trial court level, put the school in the position of being the party who needed to move forward. Had she lost, the need to seek expedited relief would have fallen on her. But in neither case can the parties or the trial court preclude a nonfrivolous appeal by contempt or otherwise.
SHEPARD, C.J., concurs.