Officials protesting anthem–SCHSL speaks

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by Kelvin green

The First Amendment applies to the States by incorporation. Framers of the 14th Amendment believed it incorporated the first eight amendments.

The constitutional history is a bit more complex than that. In the post-14th era, arguments were made that certain rights set out in the Bill of Rights were inherently part of the meaning of equal protection under the 14th. As I recall, that often came to the courts in the context of discrimination, making it easier to argue that it was within the scope of the 14th. Over time that grew to essentially all of the rights among the first 8.*

Whether referees could be precluded from protesting during the course of their refereeing responsibilities is an interesting constitutional question that would turn on a variety of details.

Who is making the rule? If it is the independent referee association, it is a very different analysis than if a public school is doing it. (And there are lots of cases about what schools can and cannot do in the context of free speech and expressive action.)

Is the referee an employee of the public school? The state as employer often has broader ability to control behavior in the context of employment than of an employee in off hours.

Heck, if I was teaching Constitutional Law in Law school right now, I'd probably use this scenario in my final exam . . . and I am going to send it as a possible discussion topic to a friend who teaches a high school constitutional law class . . .
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*I'm too lazy to look it up, but I have a vague recollection that there are actually a couple of rights *not* incorporated. I believe grand jury is one.