Summary of facts: Cambridge Christian School qualified in 2015 to play in the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) championship game. The school asked FHSAA if it could use the loudspeaker for its customary pre-game prayer. FHSAA denied the request on the ground that the prayer would constitute state establishment of religion. Cambridge sued in federal court, asserting free speech and free exercise claims. After extensive litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Cambridge’s lawsuit, holding that the school’s proposed prayer over FHSAA’s public address system would constitute government speech. Cambridge is now asking the Supreme Court to hear its case.

RFI’s position: The Eleventh Circuit’s prohibition of a private religious school from delivering a prayer on a loudspeaker before a state championship game rests on two mistaken premises. First, it presupposes that unless the government is scrupulously neutral towards religion, it is guilty of “endorsing” a religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. Rather, American public ceremonies have traditionally featured prayers. Second, the Eleventh Circuit’s endorsement test was repudiated by the Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton. The appellate court’s decision threatens to restrict the constitutionally-protected religious speech of schools of all faiths, including Christian, Muslim, and Jewish schools. This conclusion runs contrary to American history and tradition.

Read the brief here.