A new state law could help short-circuit a legal battle about whether the school was improperly barred from offering a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a 2016 high-school football championship game. Attorneys are battling over whether a new state law could short-circuit a case about whether a Tampa Christian school was improperly prevented from offering a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a 2015 high-school football championship game. The Florida High School Athletic Association on Friday filed a brief arguing the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should dismiss the case, in part because the new law will allow such prayers. The Atlanta-based appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments June 27 in the lawsuit, which Cambridge Christian School filed after the athletic association rejected a request by the school to offer a prayer before a game at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. A federal district judge upheld the athletic association’s decision, but Gov. Ron DeSantis last month signed a law (HB 225) that allows “opening remarks,” which could be prayers, at high-school championship events. In the brief Friday, attorneys for the athletic association argued that Cambridge Christian could not show it had legal “standing” for reasons including the […]
