Cambridge Christian School in Tampa won the right in 2015 to play in the state championship football game against another Christian school from across the state of Florida. Both schools have a tradition of praying before kickoff over the loudspeaker. This allows the players and the fans to share in that moment before the game gets started and pray collectively for the game.
Cambridge and its opponent asked the Florida High School Athletic Association whether it could do this before their championship game, and they were told no.
Attorney Jeremy Dys of First Liberty Institute, the law firm representing Cambridge Christian School, said it did not stop there.
Dys reported that the Florida High School Association said, "'you can't do it because it's religious, and the case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe doesn't allow religious speech to go across a public loudspeaker."
"So, 10 years later, here we are at the Supreme Court asking the Court to reverse that Santa Fe decision and not allow the 11th Circuit – as they did – to drag out again this offshoot of the Lemon case, which died under Kennedy v. Bremerton to be used now to suppress religious speech and private speech going over a loudspeaker over a football game,” Dys told AFN.
The petition Cambridge Christian School v. FHSAA has received more than 20 friend-of-the-court briefs in favor of overturning Santa Fe v. Doe. This represents close to 100 independent people and groups.
The briefs come from across the world of arts, sports, faith, and politics, including 17 state attorneys general, 16 members of Congress, and former football players/coaches, including Tim Tebow and Joe Kennedy.
"We are grateful to so many who gave of their time to write and file these briefs for the simple proposition that government cannot treat religious speech—like prayer—as second class," said Dys. "Our hope is that the Supreme Court will take this important case and remind its lower courts of the First Amendment's double protection for religious expression."
