HARRY'S GANG: Hey, Coach! Enjoy this court ruling

I have a lot of respect for coaches; they are mostly parents or teachers who take on the task of guiding children through soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and a dozen more sports popular with kids these days. Most coaches are dedicated. Most love their jobs. Most don’t make any money from coaching, or make very little. And most parents appreciate their efforts. But most parents, occasionally, also can find a reason to criticize their kid’s coach for one reason or another.

We should be ashamed of ourselves for doing that. Last week I was driving Patrick to Hilltop fields for soccer in a light drizzle. His coach had sent a text to everyone that, despite the rain, practice would go on as scheduled (unless they saw lightning).

“What kind of coach expects fifth-graders to practice soccer during a rainstorm?” I grumbled to myself. I could see where older kids, maybe high school, could stand getting a bit wet for their sport, but little kids? Fortunately, for me, I never said anything out loud. The rain stopped. The field was only slightly damp, and my son learned a little bit about dedication and commitment.

I admit I was also afraid to say anything to the coaches because I feared they might say: “If you don’t like how we coach, you can do it.” Sometimes, keeping your mouth shut is the best strategy.

So I read the recent Minnesota Supreme court case on libel and slander against a high school sports coach with great interest. Here’s what happened:

A parent was very critical of her daughter’s basketball coach, even alleging inappropriate contact with her daughter and other players. The allegations were never proven, and an investigation turned up nothing. Nevertheless, the school did not renew the coach’s contract, and he stopped coaching the team. The mother’s anger barely subsided: she and others continued to disparage the former coach, and eventually accused him (falsely) of criminal conduct. The coach sued for defamation.

America takes its First Amendment rights pretty seriously. We can say just about anything we want, on just about any topic, with little repercussion. But we can’t say literally anything: we still have slander and defamation, which is a false accusation that damages a person’s reputation.

Note the word “false.” If the statement is true, or if it is an opinion (obviously, it’s pretty easy to turn statement into an opinion by simply saying, “In my opinion”), the victim can’t sue for defamation.

In this case, the parents claimed that the coach was a public figure. That’s significant, because it’s been the law for years that it’s more difficult to defame public figures. The accuser must have actual malice and a deliberate disregard for the truth before a public figure can sue.

But if the person is a private citizen, they can claim slander and defamation by merely showing the accusations were false (and damaging).

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that high school coaches are not public figures, so when the coach sued the parents for slander and defamation, all he has to show is that the parents’ accusations were false, and that his reputation was damaged.

This ruling is actually pretty fair. Nowadays, it’s so easy to disparage someone on social media, for example, that some serious damage can occur before the truth can be told. And once a false story is put out on social media, it’s a lot harder to erase — most of that information is out there forever. So, holding people accountable for damaging rumors should be good for our society.

In order to be a public figure, the person must influence significant public issues, government functions and the like, and the person must be in a position to significantly affect resolving such issues. A basketball coach, even though they may be high-profile and are being paid by the public school system, is not influencing important public issues.

My favorite line from the court’s decision sums it up pretty well: “Put simply, basketball is not fundamental to democracy.”

This means that before someone angrily posts serious (and false) allegations about a coach or other private citizen online, they should think twice. They may be opening themselves up for a lawsuit.

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who is finally hosting the talk show Harry’s Gang on CAT-7 again. He can be reached at [email protected].