PRESS RELEASE

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has filed an Amicus Brief in the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a case against the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA). WILL urges that because the WIAA has monopolized high school sports and has binding power over the public, including nearly 90,000 student athletes, their parents, and public school officials, it should be considered a state actor and bound by the state and federal constitutions.

WILL Associate Counsel, Skylar Croy, stated, “We cannot allow the WIAA to wield government power without the same limits imposed on the government itself. If the WIAA is going to control all high school athletics, it must follow our constitutions for the sake of our student athletes’ rights.”

With the help of the state, the WIAA became the unifying institution that governs the athletic programming of every public high school in Wisconsin. Thus, any athlete, coach, or family who wants to be involved in high school athletics must comply with the rules implemented by the WIAA. This use of delegated state power over our public schools should lead the WIAA to be considered a state actor and be bound to our state and federal constitutions.

The WIAA is not a unique organization. Many states have their own interscholastic athletic association, and many have already decided that these organizations are state actors. Nearly every court that has considered this question has ruled as such.

This ruling is fundamental in protecting the rights of all families and children in Wisconsin. The WIAA used an unchecked power to bind the public. If the WIAA is going to wield government power, it ought to be subject to the same laws that reside over the government itself.

The Court should follow the overwhelming trend and hold that the WIAA is a state actor, especially given the WIAA’s apparent power. A failure to do so imposes a serious threat to the rights of Wisconsin families.