In Cambridge Christian School, Inc. v. Florida High School Athletic Association, Inc., (MD FL, March 31, 2022), in a case on remand from the 11th Circuit, a Florida federal district court held that the Florida High School Athletic Association did not violate the 1st Amendment rights of a Christian school when it refused to allow it to broadcast a pre-game prayer over the PA system at a state championship playoff against another Christian school. The court said in part:
This case is not about whether two Christian schools may pray together at a football game.... [P]layers and coaches from both teams, along with some officials, met at the 50-yard line of the Citrus Bowl to pray together before the game and again on the sidelines after the game.... But they were not permitted to deliver their prayer over the PA system during the pregame....
Addressing plaintiff's free speech claims, the court said in part:
[P]regame speech over the PA system at the championship finals football game hosted by the FHSAA at a state-owned venue is government speech....
Even if some of the speech conducted over the PA system at the 2015 2A State Championship Final football game could be classified as private speech, the FHSAA’s viewpoint neutral regulation of the speech in the nonpublic forum was not unconstitutional....
Here, no one else was permitted to speak over the PA system during the pregame except the announcer, and pursuant to a predetermined script, which did not include speech and viewpoints of other groups, organizations, or religions....
Also, rejecting free exercise claims, the court said in part:
On the facts of this case, the Court concludes that communal pregame prayer over the PA system is a preference of CCS’s, not a deeply rooted tradition that rises to the level of a sincerely held belief.
