WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) led an amicus brief today to protect Americans from religious discrimination by state governments. Senator Lee filed the brief to defend free speech and religious observance from infringement by government entities as part of the case Cambridge Christian School v. Florida High School Athletic Association.

“When the government blocks Christian schools from praying before their own football games, something is very wrong,” said Senator Mike Lee. “Even after the Supreme Court has repeatedly warned about the dangers of expansive definitions of government speech, some lower courts are creating new loopholes and ignoring protections for freedom of speech and religion. This overstep represents a serious danger to even private expressions of faith, and must be overturned. I pray the Supreme Court grants this case, corrects the lower court’s error, and upholds the First Amendment.”

Joining Senator Lee in filing the amicus brief are U.S. Senators Ted Budd (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), James Lankford (R-OK), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Tim Scott (R-SC), as well as U.S. Representatives Lauren Boebert (R-CO), John McGuire (R-VA), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Keith Self (R-TX), and Daniel Webster (R-FL).

Background

Cambridge Christian School was set to play another Christian high school in the Florida state football championship game. Both schools wished to begin their game with prayer over the loudspeaker, but the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) refused their request – despite allowing it three years prior.

The FHSAA originally argued that the prayer might have been viewed as a government endorsement of religion. After realizing that defense failed under controlling precedent, they changed their tune. The FHSAA now argues that the prayer would have qualified as “government speech,” giving them the right to deny the request. The Eleventh Circuit accepted this argument despite countless instances of private, non-government speech occurring over the loudspeaker at these football games.

The court essentially backdoored in a new way to silence Americans by allowing the government to reclassify speech whenever it sees fit.

The Establishment Clause, Free Speech Clause, and Free Exercise Clauses are meant to work together to prevent the government from impinging on freedom of religion. But actors who are hostile to religion exploit the government-speech doctrine to undermine the constitutional rights of religious persons and groups. As Justice Samuel Alito has noted, that doctrine is “susceptible to dangerous misuse” and courts “must exercise great caution before extending government-speech precedents.” This decision by the Eleventh Circuit is one of those dangerous extensions.

Senator Lee’s amicus brief argues:

• The Eleventh Circuit erred in its application of the government-speech doctrine, thus creating a loophole for government to stifle private speech.
• The Eleventh Circuit’s misclassification of the speech of private actors as government speech would (a) chill otherwise protected speech, and (b) cause confusion as to what is and is not government speech.  
• The Supreme Court should adopt an analytical framework to resolve these types of disputes.

Read the full text of the amicus brief here.

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