‘Doesn’t make any sense’: Multitudes seeking Supreme Court guidance on whether state can censor prayers

It’s already been 10 years since state officials in Florida decided they would censor a Christian school’s prayer – they essentially banned it – before a high-school football game.

And now multitudes are asking the Supreme Court to step in and offer guidance on the issues of free speech, religious rights, state censorship and more.

WorldNetDaily has reported on the fight over the decision by the Florida High School Athletic Association to prevent Cambridge Christian School from offering a brief prayer before the state championship game.

A federal judge twice has ruled that the state can, indeed, censor the prayer.

It was Charlene Honeywell, a judge, who ruled against the private Christian school in Tampa. Honeywell claimed in her opinion that because the game was hosted by the association at a government-owned stadium, listeners would have heard the prayer as “government speech.”

She said that means the FHSAA had the right to censor the message.

However, Hiram Sasser, of First Liberty Institute, explained that the real issue is whether the school was banned from prayer over the PA system because the words were “religious.” That would be considered viewpoint discrimination and is illegal.

“The athletic association, like so many people, uses that PA system for … messages of their own choosing, or they read off messages, advertising messages, and everything else,” Sasser said. “So there is so much private use of that PA system. To not allow the schools to use it for their opening prayer they always had just doesn’t make any sense.”

Honeywell also criticized the request for prayer itself, claiming that while it is a “preference” for the Christian school, it somehow is not a deeply rooted tradition that qualifies as a “sincerely held belief,” even though Christian prayers have been going for roughly 2,000 years.

Honeywell earlier tried to dismiss the case entirely, but quickly was corrected by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Now, with the case pending before the Supreme Court, First Liberty Institute has revealed that more than 10 friend-of-the-court briefs have been filed.

They represent nearly 100 individuals and organizations, and, highlight the danger of the appellate decision and support First Liberty’s call for Santa Fe v. Doe to be overturned.

Jesse Panuccio, of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, said: “The influx friend-of-the-court briefs in this case demonstrate the dangers of the Eleventh Circuit’s decision, which permits the state to censor religious speech by calling it ‘government speech.’ That so many organizations, individuals, and law firms are urging the Supreme Court to hear this case shows how important it is for the Supreme Court to continue to make clear that the Constitution forbids religious discrimination in all its guises.”

Jeremy Dys, of First Liberty Institute, said, “We 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. 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.”

The briefs come from across the world of arts, sports, faith, and politics, including:

• Seventeen state attorneys general (led by Florida AG James Uthmeier)
• Sixteen members of Congress (led by U.S. Senator, Mike Lee (UT))
• Former U.S. Attorneys General Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Mike Mukasey (written by former U.S. Solicitor General, Paul Clement)
• Grammy nominated multi-platinum recording artist Josh Turner
• Former football players and coaches, including Tim Tebow, Chad Hennings, and Tommy Bowden
• Former Speaker of the Florida House, Will Weatherford
• The American Center for Law and Justice (counsel of record in Santa Fe)
• Liberty Counsel (counsel of record in Shurtleff v. City of Boston)
• The Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty
• Coach Joe Kennedy
• The American Legion, and more,

A long list of prominent legal teams also have joined, including lawyers representing Hogen Lovells US LLP, Sidley Austin, LLP, Clement & Murphy, PLLC, Vinson & Elkins LLP, McDermot Will and Emery, and others.

The state censored plans for a prayer before the 2015 championship between Cambridge and another Christian school at the Citrus Bowl.

The state previously had allowed innumerable private messages over the game’s PA system, but decided it would not allow a Christian message.

Judge’s 2nd ruling against Christian school’s prayer will be appealed