Santa Fe Independent SD V. Doe: Case Study
Case Brief Santa Fe Independent SD v. Jane Doe Citation: Santa Fe Independent School District V. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
Facts: In Santa Fe, Texas, students were elected by their classmates to give pre-game prayers at high school football games over the loud speaker that were mainly Christian. A Catholic and a Mormon family felt this was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution. The school district has always done pre-game invocations before each game however while the case was pending the school district changed their policy, still permitting student led prayer but not requiring them as they were before. The District Court ordered that only nonsectarian and nonproselytizing prayers could be …show more content…
As the student is giving the prayer there is no open forum as would be the case during public speeches. Without this in place, prayers before sporting events are not considered to be public speeches but are considered to be sponsored by the school. The new policy the school had to elect students to be the spokespersons to deliver the prayers was also criticized, leading the justices to believe the school was still controlling the process. The Court found the voting process that was used by the district of voting for if the prayer would be given at an event and who would give the prayer also caused rival political factions between different religion groups at the school. The voting process would create a majority win over the different religions within the district and that would be the religious voice that all would hear. The policy the district has fails to protect the rights of the minority of students. All the factors resulted in the policy of the district to be
Facts: In Santa Fe, Texas, students were elected by their classmates to give pre-game prayers at high school football games over the loud speaker that were mainly Christian. A Catholic and a Mormon family felt this was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution. The school district has always done pre-game invocations before each game however while the case was pending the school district changed their policy, still permitting student led prayer but not requiring them as they were before. The District Court ordered that only nonsectarian and nonproselytizing prayers could be …show more content…
As the student is giving the prayer there is no open forum as would be the case during public speeches. Without this in place, prayers before sporting events are not considered to be public speeches but are considered to be sponsored by the school. The new policy the school had to elect students to be the spokespersons to deliver the prayers was also criticized, leading the justices to believe the school was still controlling the process. The Court found the voting process that was used by the district of voting for if the prayer would be given at an event and who would give the prayer also caused rival political factions between different religion groups at the school. The voting process would create a majority win over the different religions within the district and that would be the religious voice that all would hear. The policy the district has fails to protect the rights of the minority of students. All the factors resulted in the policy of the district to be