In the case of Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that TSSAA, a statewide association incorporating public and private high schools which coordinates interscholastic sports activities among its member schools, was a state actor for purposes of constitutional law and thus subject to legal scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The case arose when Brentwood Academy was penalized by TSSAA for recruiting violations; it sued on First Amendment grounds arguing that TSSAA's anti-recruiting rule violated their free speech rights. The court held that because most members were public schools and received substantial support from governmental entities, TSSAA could be considered as engaging in state action even though it is nominally private.

In the dissenting opinion for Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the majority had wrongly expanded the definition of state action to include private entities like TSSAA. He contended that this decision blurred the line between public and private actions in a way that was not supported by precedent or constitutional intent. Furthermore, he believed it could have far-reaching implications for other voluntary organizations who may now be subject to legal scrutiny as if they were government bodies. In his view, TSSAA's enforcement of its recruiting rule did not constitute state action because it was an independent organization with its own rules and regulations which member schools voluntarily agreed to follow.