The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a closely watched case involving the public broadcast of a pregame prayer at a high school football championship in Florida.
The decision leaves in place a lower court ruling that favored the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) over Cambridge Christian School (CCS). The case, Cambridge Christian School v. Florida High School Athletic Association, stemmed from a 2015 incident where the private Christian school was prevented from broadcasting a prayer over the stadium’s public address system before a state championship game.
Lawyers for the Christian school argued that the FHSAA’s decision frustrated and confused players, sending a message that “it was wrong for us to use the public-address system so that we could pray together as two Christian school communities.”
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However, the FHSAA maintained that the pregame statement, delivered during events organized and hosted by the association, could be construed as “government speech” and an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to take up the case is likely due to the fact that Florida’s rules have since changed. The state now allows schools to make pregame statements, including prayer, rendering the specific circumstances of the 2015 incident moot.
Lawyers for the athletic association noted that “the political branches have remedied the problem CCS brought this lawsuit to address without the need for judicial intervention,” suggesting that a Supreme Court review would have little “real-world impact.”
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