HAYDEN et al v. GREENSBURG COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS et al

Filing 37

ENTRY denying Plaintiffs' 13 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Signed by Judge Richard L. Young on 7/19/2011. (PG)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

)
)
)
)
)
)
vs.
)
GREENSBURG COMMUNITY SCHOOL )
CORPORATION, Greensburg Community )
School Board Members, LISA TRESSLER, )
)
in her official and individual capacities,
)
DAVID WEIGEL, in his official and
)
individual capacities, VALERIE
MOORMAN, in her official and individual )
capacities, DAVE MEYER, in his official )
and individual capacities, AL MOORE, in )
his official and individual capacities, TONY )
)
OWENS, in his official and individual
capacities, STEVE TAYLOR, in his official )
)
and individual capacities, Greensburg
Community Schools Superintendent TOM )
)
HUNTER, in his official and individual
capacities, Greensburg Junior High Principal )
)
DAVE STROUSE, in his official and
)
individual capacities, Greensburg Junior
)
High Assistant Principal and Athletic
)
Director DEBBIE SMITH, in her official
)
and individual capacities, Greensburg
)
Varsity Head Boys Basketball Coach
)
STACY MEYER, in his official and
)
individual capacities
)
)
Defendants.
PATRICK HAYDEN and MELISSA
HAYDEN, on behalf of their Minor child,
A.H.,
Plaintiffs,

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1:10-cv-1709-RLY-DML

ENTRY ON PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
On January 18, 2011, Patrick Hayden and Melissa Hayden (“Plaintiffs”), on behalf
of their minor child, A.H., filed an Amended Complaint against the Greensburg
Community School Corporation (“School Corporation”), Greensburg Community School
Board Members Lisa Tressler, David Weigel, Valerie Moorman, Dave Meyer, Al Moore,
Tony Owens, and Steve Taylor (collectively “School Board”), the superintendent of
Greensburg Community Schools, Tom Hunter (“Superintendent Hunter”), the principal of
Greensburg Junior High School, Dave Strouse (“Principal Strouse”), the assistant
principal and athletic director of Greensburg Junior High School, Debbie Smith
(“Assistant Principal Smith”), and Greensburg varsity boys basketball team head coach,
Stacy Meyer (“Coach Meyer”) (collectively “Defendants”). This case arose after
Plaintiffs’ son, A.H., was removed from the Greensburg Junior High School boys
basketball team because he did not comply with an unwritten haircut policy that required
him to wear his hair above his ears and collar. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ removal
of A.H. from the basketball team for A.H.’s refusal to comply with the haircut policy
violated, inter alia, his right to equal protection and his rights to procedural and
substantive due process under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On January 9, 2011, Plaintiffs filed the
instant Motion for Preliminary Injunction. On May 20, 2011, the court held a hearing on
Plaintiffs’ Motion, and rules as follows.
Before proceeding on the merits, the court must first determine whether it has
jurisdiction to hear the claims contained in Plaintiffs’ Motion. Beth-El All Nations
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Church v. City of Chicago, 486 F.3d 286, 291 (7th Cir. 2007) (citing Lance v. Coffman,
549 U.S. 437 (2007)). To the extent that Plaintiffs’ seek to enjoin Defendants from
enforcing the haircut policy as it applied to A.H. during the 2010-2011 basketball season,
Plaintiffs’ Motion is moot. Legal claims are moot when they no longer present a case or
controversy under Article III of the United States Constitution. Cornucopia Inst. v. U.S.
Dept. of Agric., 560 F.3d 673, 676 (7th Cir. 2009). The test for mootness is “whether the
relief sought, if granted, would make a difference to the legal interests of the parties . . . .”
Air Line Pilots Ass’n Intern. v. UAL Corp., 897 F.2d 1394, 1396 (7th Cir. 1990) (citing
North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 246 (1971)). Since the 2010-2011 basketball
season has passed, there is nothing for the court to enjoin, and, thus, no live case or
controversy. Tobin for Governor v. Ill. State Bd. of Elections, 286 F.3d 517, 528 (7th Cir.
2001) (“A case is moot when it no longer presents a live case or controversy” (citations
omitted)).
To the extent that Plaintiffs seek to enjoin Defendants from enforcing the haircut
policy on A.H. during future basketball seasons, Plaintiffs’ claims are not ripe. Legal
claims are ripe under Article III when the alleged harm has matured sufficiently to
warrant judicial intervention, focusing on whether parties face direct and immediate harm.
Sierra Club v. Marita, 46 F.3d 606, 611 (7th Cir. 1995) (citations omitted). In other
words, when a claim is brought too early it is unripe for adjudication. Bauer v. Shepard,
620 F.3d 704, 708 (7th Cir. 2010). Here, a series of events must occur before the haircut
policy would apply to A.H.: (1) A.H. must enroll and be accepted back into the School
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District; (2) A.H. must maintain his hair at a length that violates the haircut policy; (3)
A.H. must try out for, and make, the basketball team; and (4) the coach must remove A.H.
from the basketball team for failing to comply with the haircut policy. Too many steps
must occur to justify constitutional adjudication. See id.; see also Crosetto v. State Bar of
Wis., 12 F.3d 1396, 1403 (7th Cir. 1993) (“Before a plaintiff may obtain an injunction
against a future enforcement he must show some substantial hardship – the enforcement
must be certain and the only impediment to the case’s ripeness is a delay before its
eventual prosecution” (citing Steffel v. Thompson, 445 U.S. 452 (1974)).
For these reasons, the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to enjoin
Defendants from enforcing the haircut policy as applied to A.H. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’
Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Docket # 13) is DENIED.
SO ORDERED this 19th day of July 2011.

__________________________________

RICHARD L. YOUNG, CHIEF JUDGE
RICHARD L. YOUNG, CHIEF JUDGE
United States District Court
United States District Court
Southern District of Indiana
Southern District of Indiana
Electronic Copies to:
Thomas W. Blessing
FRAZIER & ASSOCIATES
[e-mail]
Jason Thomas Clagg
BARNES & THORNBURG
[e-mail]

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Ronald William Frazier
FRAZIER & ASSOCIATES
[e-mail]
William T. Hopkins Jr.
BARNES & THORNBURG
[e-mail]
Thomas E. Wheeler II
FROST BROWN TODD LLC
[e-mail]

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