Court Favors Florida High School Football League's 'No Prayer' Policy
A district court in Florida dismissed a lawsuit brought on behalf a Christian high school complaining it was denied permission to use the stadium loudspeaker system to deliver a prayer at the championship game in which its football team was playing.
In December 2015, during the Division 2A state football championship, the competing teams from Cambridge Christian School and University Christian School of Jacksonville agreed to say a prayer before the game. The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) allowed them to do so but denied them the use of the sound system.
FHSAA executive director Roger Dearing explained later that they denied the schools the use of the sound system because the game was overseen and managed by their body which is a state entity and that the venue, Citrus Bowl Stadium, is a public facility. The game was also televised.
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Cambridge Christian eventually sued and accused FHSAA of violating the Constitution by denying them of their religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. While the teams were allowed to recite their prayers on the field, the deprivation of the loudspeakers denied the audience of participation, it added.
According to Cambridge Christian's junior placekicker Jacob Enns, prayer before kickoff has been their tradition all season before home games and during playoffs. "The fact that they said we couldn't (pray) was not only disappointing but it sent a message to us that prayer was wrong," he said.
But the court on June 7 decided in favor of FHSAA, saying the government had no obligation "to open its loudspeaker to allow Cambridge Christian to broadcast its prayer." On the other hand, the school cannot state a claim under the constitutional provisions because its prayer is not subject to the Free Speech Clause.
Judge Charlene E. Honeywell also noted that both teams were allowed to say their pre-game prayer on the 50-yard line, the most centrally focused and public area of the stadium. Whatever burden caused by the deprivation of access to the loudspeakers is not substantial enough, the decision added.
