This brief was filed with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on December 11, 2017 in support of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA). This case centered around a christian school that wanted to compel the FHSAA to broadcast prayers at state football championship games. The school requested access to the PA system so that prayers could be broadcast before games and FHSAA denied this request.
FFRF’s brief argued that a private religious school did not have a constitutional right to use a PA system at a state-sponsored event. It went on to explain that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protects only private speech, not government speech. If the FHSAA were forced to broadcast Christian prayers, it would have violated the constitutional rights of thousands of families.
This brief was filed in collaboration with the Central Florida Freethought Community. An amicus was filed at the District Court level in the case as well.
Appeals Court
District Court
