An appeals court has correctly ruled against a Christian school’s spurious assertion that it be permitted to broadcast prayers over the PA system at Florida state championships.
Cambridge Christian School had sought to coerce the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) into broadcasting prayers over the public-address system at championship competitions hosted by the association. Cambridge Christian’s free speech claim was fallacious because it hadn’t established that a forum existed for private speech at these government-sponsored events, the Freedom From Religion Foundation pointed out in an amicus brief filed with the court.
Now, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a judgment in concordance with FFRF’s arguments. It has denied Christian Cambridge’s injunctive relief claim because it says that the school lacks standing. And it has rejected Christian Cambridge’s argument for nominal damages because the loudspeaker at football games is used for government speech, not private prayers. In doing so, the appeals court has rejected Christian Cambridge’s Free Speech and Free Exercise claims.
“We vacate the district court’s judgment in favor of the FHSAA on Cambridge Christian’s claims for declaratory and injunctive relief, and we remand with instructions for the district court to dismiss those claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction,” the court has ruled. “We otherwise affirm the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the FHSAA on Cambridge Christian’s free speech and free exercise claims.”
Cambridge Christian School in Tampa, Fla., initiated a federal lawsuit in 2016 targeting the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), a state entity, demanding that it provide access to a public address system so that the school’s prayers could be broadcast before games. The case stemmed from a game on Dec. 4, 2015, where the school’s insistence on using the PA system for prayer was properly declined by the association, which manages game announcements.
“A private religious school does not have a constitutional right to commandeer the PA system at a state-sponsored athletic competition,” FFRF’s amicus brief asserted. “The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment only protects private speech, it does not implicate government speech.”
The Florida High School Athletic Association has always used its PA system to promote its own speech, FFRF pointed out. Additionally, the association has appeared to endorse all of the pregame messages communicated over the PA system, and the association maintains control over the PA system throughout the pregame period. These three factors demonstrate that the government did not create a forum for private speech over its PA system.
The appeals court decision was in line with FFRF’s contention, asserting that the three crucial factors at play here, namely history, endorsement and control, demonstrated that the forum was government speech.
“Because we conclude that the FHSAA was regulating its own expression when it restricted pregame speech over the PA system at the 2015 football championships, Cambridge Christian’s free exercise claims fail,” the court stated.
A portion of the ruling was prompted by a new Florida law that has bent backward to accommodate the wishes of entities such as Cambridge Christian School.
“The panel noted passage of a 2023 law allowing pregame messages at sporting events that can include religious messages,” reports the Florida Phoenix. “That rendered moot a request by Cambridge Christian, which filed the lawsuit, to an injunction against future denials of prayer requests, the court said.”
“The 2023 law, HB 225, allows pregame messages to be read at state championship sporting events as long as they are under two minutes long and are not derogatory,” the publication adds. “The athletic association adopted policies to allow brief remarks, religious or otherwise, with a disclaimer that the remarks are not endorsed by the FHSAA.”
FFRF is pleased with the judgment.
“Cambridge Christian and other religious entities are not fighting for equality, they are fighting for privilege,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor remarks. “This is not about the right to be Christian or to worship Jesus but about imposing that worship on others. The appeals court properly recognized that in its decision.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including 2,000 members and the Central Florida Freethought Community chapter in Florida. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
