WASHINGTON (AP) — Male athletes who challenged a state university's elimination of its men's wrestling and soccer teams to help equalize opportunities for both sexes lost a Supreme Court appeal Thursday.
The justices, without comment, left intact rulings that threw out the lawsuit against Illinois State University and its officials.
Lawyers for the male athletes argued that eliminating the men's teams in 1995 made them victims of illegal and unconstitutional sexual bias. Similar lawsuits have been filed by male students at other schools throughout the country.
Lower courts disagreed, saying Illinois State University's elimination of the two men's teams, along with the addition of a women's soccer team, was a legal way to comply with the equality in athletics that the federal law Title IX and regulations require.
Also on Thursday, the court:
Refused to let Louisiana require its elected officials to undergo random drug testing. The court rejected an appeal by the state that said such tests do not violate the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches.
Agreed to consider killing a lawsuit in which more than 5,000 people accuse a company of fraudulently winning federal approval for marketing bone screws for use in spinal surgery. A decision is expected sometime in 2001.