A federal appeals court will not reconsider an opinion last year that sided with the Florida High School Athletic Association in a dispute about a blocking Tampa's Cambridge Christian School from praying over a loudspeaker before a football game.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week turned down a request from Cambridge Christian for the full appeals court to hold a hearing on the issue, a request known as seeking an “en banc” hearing.
A three-judge panel of the court in September upheld a 2022 ruling by U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell that said the FHSAA did not violate First Amendment rights when it blocked the school from offering a prayer over a loudspeaker before a 2015 high school championship game.
The case stemmed from a game at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium between Cambridge Christian and Jacksonville’s University Christian School.
While the association, a nonprofit governing body for high school sports, denied the use of the loudspeaker, the teams prayed on the field before and after the game, the appeals court panel’s opinion said. Those prayers could not be heard by people in the stands.
Amid the long-running case, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature in 2023 approved a law that required allowing high schools to offer “brief opening remarks” — which could include prayers — before championship events.
The appeals court panel said that made moot parts of the lawsuit but that it needed to rule on the First Amendment issues because Cambridge Christian sought “nominal damages.”
The panel, in a 52-page opinion, concluded that announcements over the loudspeaker at the 2015 game were “government speech,” as they were scripted and controlled by the FHSAA. It said blocking a prayer over the public address system did not violate free-speech rights.
