Florida High School Athletic Association Urges Supreme Court to Reject Players Pregame Prayer Case

The Florida High School Athletic Association has called on the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss an appeal by Cambridge Christian School, a Tampa-based institution, over a 2015 football championship game. The case centers on whether the school’s rights were infringed when it was denied the opportunity to offer a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before the game. The association’s attorneys filed a 32-page brief arguing that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals correctly ruled against Cambridge Christian School in 2022.

The association highlighted a 2023 state law that allows high schools to deliver “brief opening remarks” before championship events, which could include prayers. This law, they argue, provides a constitutionally sound solution to the issue at hand. The filing emphasized that the problem Cambridge Christian sought to address has already been resolved through local legislative action, rather than through a national judicial decision.

“Religious freedom is well protected in Florida and will continue to be protected regardless of the outcome of this purely retrospective lawsuit,” the association’s legal team wrote. They noted that while the case raises important constitutional questions, its resolution will not affect current practices in the state.

Cambridge Christian School’s attorneys had previously petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case, asserting it presents significant concerns for religious liberty. The association’s response to that petition underscores its belief that the matter has been adequately addressed through state legislation. The Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to take up the case.

The dispute originated from a championship game between Cambridge Christian and University Christian School at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. While the Florida High School Athletic Association denied the use of the stadium’s loudspeaker for a prayer, both teams prayed on the field before and after the game. These prayers were not audible to spectators in the stands.

In 2017, U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell initially dismissed the case, but the appeals court reversed that decision in 2019, sending it back for further review. Honeywell later ruled in favor of the association in 2022, prompting Cambridge Christian to file another appeal. The appeals court determined that parts of the lawsuit were moot due to the 2023 state law, but it still needed to address First Amendment issues because Cambridge Christian sought “nominal damages.”

The court’s 2022 decision concluded that the loudspeaker announcements were “government speech,” as they were controlled by the association. This determination shaped the legal analysis of the case, emphasizing the distinction between government action and private religious expression. The association’s legal team continues to argue that the state’s legislative response adequately safeguards religious freedoms without requiring a national judicial intervention.

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