Santa Fe Independent School District V Doe 2000

''' Title and Year'''

Santa Fe Independent School District V Doe 

2000

Court

Rehnquist

Majority Opinion

John Stevens

Facts/Brief Background

Until 1995, the students of the Santa Fe High School chose a chaplain to sing a prayer over the public address system during the varsity football games. Students who were Respondents, Mormons, Catholics and their parents filed a law suit against the school board accusing them for violating the establishment clause of the first amendment. When the case was in progress at the Texas Supreme Court, the school board changed the policy. They changed the policy for holding a student election to elect two students. One person will determine whether there needs to be a prayer on that particular game day and the other will act as a spokesperson and he/she will deliver the invocation. The district court ordered for changing the board's policy to permit only nonsectarian and no proselytizing prayer. The school board appealed in the Circuit Court and they held that conducting a prayer in the foot ball games was unconstitutional. The case was once more appealed in the Supreme Court.

Issue

Does the Santa Fe Independent School District's policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?

Ruling & Legal Doctrine

The court ruled against the school district. Lee V Weisman had set a precedent that any kind of invocation in any public or a school event or a sponsored event is unconstitutional under the Establishment clause of the 1st amendment. The district tried to justify the point of view used Rosenberger V Univ of Virginia referring that the prayer is a private student speech. But Justice Steven says that Rosenberger doesn't apply to public forum such as a public events. The Judges took a closer look at the school policy and they found out that the school policy stated the " Prayers must be solemnizing the event." The judges interpreted that the religious message is the only way to solemnize the event. So they declared that the invocation was not private speech and they said that the invocation before the game does violate the Establishment clause of the 1stamendment. Significance

This decision prevented most of the religious happenings in the school and other school related activities.