Free Republic

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - If Murfreesboro decides to allow guns in parks it could cost the city the annual Spring Fling event and the $3.5 million it brings in from tourism. The executive director of TSSAA said there is no way they would allow the week-long high school sport state tournaments to be played at a park where guns are allowed. A state law allowing people with carry permits to bring guns in parks goes into effect September first. However, local governments can opt out. Murfreesboro's City Council decided last week to postpone voting on a measure to uphold its ban...

WASHINGTON -- A long-running dispute over recruiting high school athletes has reached the Supreme Court, where justices are being asked to decide whether a Tennessee school's free-speech rights outweigh rules limiting contacts with student athletes. The case involves Brentwood Academy, a wealthy private school south of Nashville, and the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, which governs high school sports in the state. Brentwood Academy sent a letter inviting 12 eighth-graders to attend spring football practice in 1997. The students' parents already had signed contracts and paid deposits to attend the high school. The athletic association said the letter violated rules...

A federal court Friday ruled a private school can use antitrust laws to challenge the way competition and championships in high school sports in Tennessee are structured. A three-judge panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals says Brentwood Academy can sue the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association over separating competition between most public and private schools. Brentwood Academy's lawsuit alleges the TSSAA restricts competition by placing most private schools in a separate division. TSSAA executive director Ronnie Carter said he was disappointed with the ruling. Brentwood Academy lawyer Lee Barfield says the situation amounts to a boycott of...