PLF's Joshua Thompson Takes on the Title IX Blog

When anyone asks me what our adversaries are like in the Title IX reform debate, I always tell them to take a close look at the Title IX Blog. The critical difference there: the authors don't allow any outsiders to leave comments on their blog posts. It's almost as if they're afraid of free and open debate about the law and the damage it's doing at colleges and high schools around the country.

A few days back, Kristine Newhall, one of the co-authors of the blog, posted her rejoinder to the American Sports Council (ASC) lawsuit against the Department of Education concerning the application of Title IX's three-part test to high school sports. To say the least, Newhall got off to a rough start with her headline:

Why Title IX should (and already does) apply to high schools

Let me start off by suggesting that Ms. Newhall read our complaint a little more closely. The ASC's suit never said that Title IX doesn't apply to high schools. Instead, rather pointedly, we said that the three-part test that was developed for colleges does not apply to high schools. The following comes straight from the complaint:

"The Council fully embraces the intent of Title IX: to prohibit intentional discrimination based on sex, and eliminate from federally funded education all sex-based 'quotas' and 'percentage balances. ... The Council believes that the manner in which Title IX is now being enforced by the Department should be reformed, so that the law can continue to provide enforcement for eliminating intentional discrimination, but also so that agency interpretation no longer compels discriminatory quotas."

To say that we're arguing Title IX doesn't apply to high schools simply doesn't make any sense. Then again, if you're looking for anything sensible, the Title IX Blog shouldn't be the first place you look.

I could go into more detail, but instead, I'd like to pass things off to one of the folks who actually drafted the complaint, in this case, Joshua Thompson, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation. Early this morning, he posted a response to Ms. Newhall at the foundation's blog:

After PLF and the American Sports Council made waves announcing their lawsuit concerning the application of sex-based quotas on American high schools, the proponents of sex-based quotas have finally begun their counter-attack. Unsurprisingly, however, the response from the Title IX Blog is based solely on hyperbole, ad hominems, straw man arguments, and non sequiturs. I'll point out some of the most egregious fallacies after the fold.

Safe to say, Joshua makes quick work of Ms. Newhall's rebuttal. Read it all right now.

Pacific Legal Foundation Video Explains American Sports Council Suit Against Department of Education on Title IX and High School Sports

As part of today's activities around the law suit filed by the American Sports Council against the Department of Education concerning Title IX and high school sports, our legal partners at the Pacific Legal Foundation produced a video explaining the suit.



To view the Pacific Legal Foundation's own press release on the filing of the suit, click here.

American Sports Council Sues U.S. Department of Education to Prevent Use of Title IX Quotas in High School Athletics

It's a busy first day for the newly-formed American Sports Council. Again, from our new website:

The American Sports Council (ASC) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) today, alleging that the use of gender quotas to enforce Title IX in high school athletic programs is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause. Attorneys at the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of the ASC. The suit is entitled, American Sports Council vs. Department of Education.

In recent months, quota activists have been intimidating high school districts with charges that they are in violation of Title IX simply on the basis of the gender balance in their athletic departments. “Not only is this interpretation not supported by law, it has the potential of destroying much of what is so good about the uniquely American athletic system — one that produces the world’s best scholar-athletes,” said ASC Chairman, Eric Pearson. “This pattern of legal intimidation needs to stop.”

Nationwide, there are currently 1.3 million more boys participating in high school sports than girls. Using a gender quota to enforce Title IX in high school sports would put those boys athletes at risk of losing their opportunity to play.

“Title IX does not require sex-based quotas in high school sports. Quota mandates are at odds with the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and equal treatment of people regardless of sex," said PLF attorney Joshua Thompson. "But in recent years, federal policy guidelines on Title IX have made vague references to high schools in a way that allows pro-quota activists to misconstrue Title IX and wrongly demand that high schools institute quota policies.”

In 2007, PLF’s legal team, acting on behalf of the ASC, formally petitioned DOE to revise or repeal current Title IX enforcement guidelines because they do not make it clear that the law does not require high schools to use strict quotas to comply with the law.

The agency refused. Today’s lawsuit argues that DOE acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it denied the 2007 petition, and that it must amend, clarify or repeal guidelines that are being used to promote gender-based quotas in high school sports.

The threat of unfair Title IX enforcement on high school sports has been a national issue ever since the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) filed complaints with DOE’s Office of Civil Rights, alleging discrimination against female athletes in 12 different school districts based solely on the gender balance in their sports programs. Subsequently, the ASC and the PLF advised those school districts that Title IX’s three-part test — including the use of strict gender quotas — did not apply to high schools and that they had far more leeway in proving compliance with the law.

The complaint and a video explaining the lawsuit are available at each organization’s respective website. Click here to view the complaint.

College Sports Council Changes Name to American Sports Council

Posted at the website of the newly-formed American Sports Council:

After almost a decade leading the fight to reform Title IX enforcement, the College Sports Council (CSC) today announced that it was changing its name to the American Sports Council (ASC) effective immediately.

The organization’s Web site can be found at www.americansportscouncil.org.

“Title IX enforcement’s next battlefield will be American high schools, and we need to change our name to reflect a broader mandate,” said Eric Pearson, Chairman of the ASC.

Supporters of gender quotas have made it clear in recent months that they want to replicate the same system in high school athletics that has been established in intercollegiate sports — a move that could sideline as many as 1.3 million boys high school athletes nationwide.

“Working openly with their allies in the Obama administration, gender quota advocates are determined to broaden the law’s mandate to areas Congress never intended,” said Pearson. “If they have their way, even the activities of high school booster clubs will come under the purview of the federal government, something that can only be seen as unwarranted federal overreach,” Pearson said.

Stay tuned, there's more to come.

On Title IX and High Schools

Over the past several months, we've seen the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights inundated with Title IX complaints coming from Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Although there are about 300 complaints in total, the heart of each is always the same: that the gender balance of the athletic department of the high school in question is isn't in synch with the gender balance of its student body.

Bottom line: in the mind of some anonymous individual, there are too many boys high school students playing sports in those three states.

And with that, we welcome you to the next frontier in Title IX enforcement, the American high school.

Kerry Eggers, a columnist for the Portland Tribune, took a look at the issue earlier this week. There's more to come. Stay tuned.