Supreme Court’s Decision
The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will not consider a request from a Christian school seeking permission to pray over the loudspeaker before a football game.
Without providing any comments, the justices included this decision in their orders list, effectively dismissing the case of Cambridge Christian School v. Florida High School Athletic Association.
For the court to schedule oral arguments, at least four justices would have needed to vote in favor of hearing the case.
This legal challenge was initiated by Cambridge Christian School located in Tampa, Florida. The private institution contended that its First Amendment rights regarding free speech and free exercise were infringed upon when representatives were prohibited from praying over the loudspeaker prior to their championship game.
The school was set to compete against another Christian institution, and both schools intended to participate in a pregame prayer.
While such prayers had been permitted in earlier years, the Florida High School Athletic Association declared in 2015 that allowing them would constitute government speech and an endorsement of religion. Consequently, they instituted a ban on pregame prayers.
The school filed a lawsuit in 2016; however, lower courts ruled against them regarding their claims of free speech and religious exercise violations.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that there was no infringement on free speech rights and concluded that prayers conducted over the loudspeaker could be classified as government speech.
The Supreme Court’s decision not to take up this appeal leaves the ruling of the 11th Circuit intact.
