Federal Court Reverses Decision Barring Christian School from Praying Over Loudspeaker – By Kharen Martinez Murcia (CNS News) / Nov 18 2019
(CNSNews.com) — A federal court of appeals reversed a rule enforced by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) that prohibited two private Christian schools from saying a prayer over the loudspeakers before a football game at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
The two schools, Cambridge Christian School and University Christian School, were set to play a championship game at the stadium in 2015. When the two faith-based schools asked if they could offer a prayer over the loudspeakers prior to the game, Roger Dearing, the executive director of the FHSAA, denied the request.
Subsequently, the two schools filed a lawsuit against the FHSAA in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 2016. The school argued that the FHSAA was violating its First Amendment rights.
The FHSAA argued in its defense that “all speech over the loudspeaker was government speech,” and thus could not be religious.
In 2017, the judge reviewing the case sided with the FHSAA. As a result, Cambridge Christian School decided to appeal the decision.
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