Metro

Mighty Casey

Frankel Academy tramples MHSAA
in state Appeals Court ruling.

Alan Hitsky

Associate Editor

I

t might be the longest game in
baseball history, and it still may
not be over. But with two outs
in the bottom of the ninth, it appears
that Mighty Casey has struck out.
The Michigan Court of Appeals
ruled very stringently last week
against the Ivlichigan High School
Athletic Association (MHSAA) in
a case originally brought by the
Frankel Jewish Academy (FJA) in
West Bloomfield against playing a
state tournament baseball game on
Shabbat.
Attorneys for the FJA believe the
narrow ruling will effectively prohibit
the MHSAA from further appealing,
thus ending a case which originally
arose four seasons ago.
FJA received an emergency injunc-
tion in May 2005 from Oakland
County Circuit Judge Rae Lee Chabot,
forcing a state tournament district
baseball game against host Southfield
Christian High School to be moved
from a Saturday date to a Monday, the
alternate rain date.
Judge Chabot later issued a perma-
nent injunction, telling the MHSAA
to accommodate the religious needs
of its member schools. Over a period
of months, the judge also overturned
actions by the MHSAA that would
have stripped FJA of its membership
in the state association.
The Jewish school has participated
for several years in the lowest divi-
sions of Detroit's Catholic League. If
it had lost its MHSAA membership,
Catholic League and other MHSAA
schools would not be allowed to com-
pete against FJA. When the member-
ship issue was raised in November
2005, several FJA female swimmers,
who were competing as a combined
team with Shrine High School in
Royal Oak, were forced to quit the
team or risk Shrine's MHSAA mem-
bership.
Without the FJA students, the
Shrine team could not field a competi-
tive relay team at the state swim meet.
Judge Chabot, who is Catholic, ruled
against the MHSAA on the member-
ship issue as well.
The MHSAA appealed Judge

Chabot's ruling on tournament
scheduling to the Michigan Court of
Appeals. Briefs were filed 18 months
ago and the case was heard by a three-
judge panel three weeks ago. The rul-
ing was issued last week.
MHSAA officials have not yet
determined whether they will appeal
the decision. Jack Roberts, MHSAA
executive director, said Monday that
the organization would appeal any
decision "that would be adverse to our
member schools ... whether it would
bring hardship to other schools, their
students, faculties, parents!'
But Steven Z. Cohen, co-counsel
with Mike Curhan for the FJA, said
MHSAA attorneys would have a dif-
ficult time appealing because they
chose to raise with the appeals court
only the issue of Judge Chabot's juris-
diction in the case.
"There were nine issues," Cohen
said, "and they screwed up!' He said it
would be nearly impossible to appeal
to the state Supreme Court on such
narrow grounds.
The Appeals Court ruled that the
MHSAA should pay FJA attorney fees
in the case, which Cohen estimated at
5250,000. `After all, there were five dif-
ferent injunctions and a full trial here','
Cohen said.
The MHSAA has 21 days from
the date of the ruling to request the
Appeals Court to reconsider and until
July 28 to appeal to the state Supreme
Court.
Cohen said the lesson for the stu-
dents at all day schools is "we can
have the best of both worlds. We use
the law [of the land] judiciously so
that we can practice our religion. We
did the right thing for the right reason
— it is the best civics lesson!'
He also lauded the Jewish commu-
nity for coming together behind FJA.
"I'm a Young Israel boy. Mike Curhan
and his family belong to Temple
Israel and we had a lot of encourage-
ment from all over in support of a
Conservative Jewish school!"
He added, "This has been one of
my favorite cases. If an Islamic school,
Seventh Day Adventists or devout
Christians have a similar problem
[with Sabbath or holiday scheduling],
it will now be almost impossible for
the MHSAA to deny them."

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