## Facts

- Brenda Clinton, age 12, sought to play tackle football for the 97th Street Bulldogs in the Cleveland Browns Muny Football Association, a league licensed by and administered through the City of Cleveland’s recreation division.
- Clinton, through her mother, satisfied the league’s ordinary participation requirements, including execution of the league’s required medical services agreement.
- On multiple game days, Clinton was suited and prepared to play but was told by league officials that she could not participate because she was female.
- At the request of league leadership, Clinton’s mother also signed an additional injury waiver not required of male participants, but Clinton still was barred from playing.
- Defendants justified the categorical exclusion as a safety measure based on claimed average physical differences between boys and girls at ages 10–12.
- Clinton filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief and declaratory relief; after notice and a hearing, the court considered whether to grant a temporary restraining order.

## Issues

1. Whether a city-administered youth football league’s rule excluding girls from participation constitutes sex discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause, enforceable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
2. Whether the plaintiff satisfied the requirements for temporary injunctive relief, including likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm.

## Decision

- The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing defendants from enforcing the rule barring Clinton from playing because of her sex.
- The court treated the exclusion as action under color of state law due to the City’s licensing and administration of the program and the involvement of municipal officials.
- The court found the classification explicitly sex-based and unsupported, at the temporary-relief stage, by more than generalized safety assumptions.
- The court concluded Clinton showed a sufficient likelihood of success on her equal protection claim.
- The court found irreparable harm because exclusion would deny a time-limited athletic opportunity that could not be fully remedied after the season.

## Legal Principles

- Conduct in administering a municipally licensed and operated recreation program may constitute state action for § 1983 purposes.
- A categorical exclusion based solely on sex is constitutionally suspect and cannot rest on broad generalizations about male and female differences.
- In evaluating sex-based classifications, the government must show an adequate relationship between the classification and the asserted governmental interest; generalized safety rationales may be insufficient when used to impose an absolute ban.
- Temporary injunctive relief requires showing likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, a balance of equities favoring relief, and consistency with the public interest.

## Conclusion

The court temporarily enjoined enforcement of a city-administered youth football league rule excluding a qualified girl solely because of her sex, holding that the plaintiff made a sufficient showing of likely equal protection success and irreparable harm to warrant immediate relief.


Clinton v. Nagy, 411 F. Supp. 1396 (N.D. Ohio 1974)