15 Lawmakers Urge Supreme Court to Revisit 'Government Speech' Doctrine in Student Football Prayer Case

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and 14 other Republican lawmakers have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, urging the justices to hear a religious freedom case stemming from a ban on student prayer at a high school football game. The brief supports Cambridge Christian School in its long-running dispute with the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), which prohibited the school from reciting a prayer over the loudspeaker at a 2015 championship game. Senator Lee stated in a social media post:

"When the government blocks Christian students from praying before their own football games, something is very wrong." The move comes as the Supreme Court nears a deadline to decide whether to grant certiorari and take up the case.

The legal battle began after the FHSAA deemed the loudspeaker prayer as "government speech" and banned it, leading Cambridge Christian to sue. Although the teams subsequently prayed on the field, it was not audible to the crowd. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the athletic association's argument, ruling that using a loudspeaker at the event constituted government speech and did not violate free speech rights. Cambridge Christian's attorneys filed a 37-page petition in June, asking the Supreme Court to reverse this appellate ruling.

Senator Lee and his colleagues argue that the 11th Circuit's decision poses a "serious danger" to private expressions of faith. In his amicus brief, Lee contended that lower courts are "creating new loopholes and ignoring protections for freedom of speech and religion" by expansively defining government speech. He believes the ruling misclassifies private speech as government speech, effectively allowing the government to "stifle private speech." The brief aims to ensure the First Amendment's protections for religious expression are upheld.

This case touches upon complex legal precedents regarding religious expression in public school settings, notably the Supreme Court's 2000 ruling in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe. In that decision, the Court found student-led, school-sponsored prayer over a loudspeaker at football games unconstitutional, emphasizing concerns about government endorsement and coercion. Lee's amicus brief specifically seeks to challenge the broad application of the "government speech" doctrine, arguing that it improperly restricts private religious expression. The Supreme Court's decision on whether to grant certiorari and hear the case will therefore have significant implications for the ongoing debate over the balance between religious liberty, free speech, and the Establishment Clause in public education across the nation.