Suits Challenge Shift of California Parochial Schools' Sports Leagues As Religious Discrimination

As reported by the Los Angeles Daily News and the Ventura County Star, four parochial high schools filed three separate federal lawsuits yesterday against the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section (CIF-SS) challenging the transfer of their sports teams to the Parochial Area league, with a resulting significant increase in travel time for students to reach the location of "away" games. Here is the full text of the complaint in one of the lawsuits-- Archdiocese of Los Angeles Education and Welfare Corp. v. California Interscholastic Association Southern Section, (CD CA, filed 6/20/2013). Claiming federal and state constitutional free exercise, equal protection and due process violations, the complaint alleges:

a discriminatory scheme to uproot Plaintiff religious schools out of their home geographic areas where they have been competing in athletic sports for decades and require them to travel excessive distances for the sole purpose of segregating them with other religious schools.