Todd Maroney v. University Interscholastic League

We are again confronted with a high school sportsman’s civil rights 1 challenge to the authority of the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to determine his eligibility. Originally filed in state court, Todd Maroney’s challenge of the UIL’s “Five-Year Rule,” 2 on state and federal constitutional grounds, was removed to federal court by the UIL. Because Maroney’s action did not raise a substantial federal claim, we hold that removal jurisdiction never attached in the district court.

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Maroney, an eighteen-year-old student at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, sought to play varsity…