News Release
For Immediate Release: 11.17.25
Contact: John Manning, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
U.S. Supreme Declines Review of Decision Barring Christian School From Praying Over the Loudspeaker at Football Game
The Court won’t review precedent that has sharply divided courts for many years.
Washington, D.C.—The Supreme Court of the United States declined to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that barred the Cambridge Christian School from praying over a loudspeaker before the state championship between two Florida Christian schools. First Liberty Institute and the law firms Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Winston and Strawn, LLP, and Jones Day represent Cambridge Christian.
Jesse Panuccio of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP said, “This case caused the Florida Legislature to change the law so that the FHSAA cannot again discriminate against its member religious schools by denying use of the loudspeaker for a pregame prayer. While it’s disappointing the Supreme Court chose not to take up the case to reverse the wrongheaded precedent that led to these events, we are gratified that religious liberty protections in Florida are now stronger today than when we began this case.”
“The Eleventh Circuit’s decision to label the prayer as government speech abandons the foundational promises of the First Amendment that are meant to guarantee individual freedom,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “We are disappointed in the Court’s decision, but will continue to work for the religious freedom of every student in every school across the nation.”
In 2015, the Florida High School Athletic Association forbade Cambridge Christian School from praying over the loudspeaker at the Citrus Bowl ahead of the state championship football game. The FHSAA stated that because the stadium was city-owned and the FHSAA a government actor, it would violate the Constitution to allow two private Christian schools to pray over the stadium loudspeaker for less than a minute. In November 2019, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that Cambridge Christian School’s argument that its free speech and free exercise rights were violated have merit and should proceed. But in 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued a judgment in FHSAA’s favor and later that year the Eleventh Circuit court upheld the lower court’s decision. In response to this litigation, the Florida Legislature passed Fla. Stat. § 1006.185, guaranteeing two minutes of opening remarks—which may include prayer—to each team before a high school sporting event in Florida.
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact John Manning at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
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