You serve as legal counsel to a legislative committee. One of the members of your committee has indicated that she wants you to draft legislation that
would recognize a property interest in participation in intercollegiate athletics. The legislator is irate because her daughter was not permitted to try out for the football team at our public university. Her daughter believes that she could earn an athletic scholarship if she had the opportunity to demonstrate her ability as a kicker and that she could increase her future job opportunities by playing college football. When the legislator and her daughter asked the coach why she was not permitted to try out, the coach simply said he thought it was best. When he was passed with further reasons, he simply said he did not want to offer any period when the legislator discussed the matter with her lawyer, he said it was unlikely that a court would review why her daughter was not being permitted to participate because she does not have a property interest that would trigger federal due process protection. Was the lawyer’s advice correct?
What advice would you have given to the legislator regarding the advantages and disadvantages of a law that would create a property interest in athletic participation?
