Santa Fe Independent School District Case Study

In 1995, a lawsuit was filed against the Santa Fe Independent School District. Students had been leading Christian prayers before football games. The case made it’s way up to the Supreme Court, claiming these prayers were a violation of the First Amendment. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”. This means that US citizens are free to practice any religion they choose, as long as they respect public morals. The amendment also states that and that the government cannot endorse a particular religion, which was added to ensure that the government couldn’t have an established religion, like England had at a time, the Church of England. Another

purpose of the First Amendment is to assure the religious based disasters, such as the Salem Witch Trials, could never happen again. This amendment was ratified with the Bill of Rights, on December 15, 1791. The First Amendment is interesting because it was created to solve religious related problems, but has also created many religious related controversies.
In 1995, students at Santa Fe High School caused one of these controversies.

The school had a tradition of delivering overtly christian prayers before every football game. One Mormon family, as well as one Catholic family filed a lawsuit, claiming that these prayers violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. While the lawsuit was pending, the District Court created a new policy, stating that student initiated, nonsectarian, nonproselytizing prayer was permitted, not required, and that two student elections to determine if the prayers should take place, and then to decide who would lead the prayer. The case reached the Supreme Court by March, 2000. The plaintiffs were permitted to file as John/Jane Does, and the Defendant was the Santa Fe Independent School District (SFISD). SFISD claimed that the prayers were private student speech, not public, and that they were not required by the school. Doe argued that these prayers were done in a public setting, and therefore violated Establishment Clause. In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that praying at a football game was public speech, these prayers violated the establishment clause. Justice Stevens, part of the majority, wrote “Such speech is not properly characterized as "private,"” and that the district helping these prayers to happen was a form of government endorsing

religion.
No matter what situation used, the First Amendment was created, used, and still helps people to feel safe to practice their religion, and to have a choice of who/what or if to worship, which is why some of the first colonists, the Puritans, came to America, and is important in contributing to today’s very diverse America.

Freedom of Religion has changed the US over time, and is still changing it today. This amendment has helped resolve religious conflicts, as well as preventing some from happening, like the Salem Witch Trials. It has also helped in making a safe environment for diversity of religion, as well as sharing each other’s. This amendment has brought people of the same and different religions together, by erasing the tensions of a government sponsored religion, and has allowed people to share their religion with others, bringing us all closer together as a country. However, it has brought some people apart. People against other religions or against things that were originally "against their religion" have been separated by this amendment. My direct family personally is not religious, and this amendment has allowed us to be non-religious and celebrate holidays like christmas without being christian, and not being forced to have a religion. Because of this, I barely have to think about religion. Before, I didn't really understand how many modern day things were linked to religion, and how often this amendment still comes up today. I thought the constitution couldn’t

make a big difference so far ahead of it’s time, but it does, and supreme court cases about religion still happen today. I didn’t realize or consider much of a difference this amendment really made in today's US, how this amendment really is still relevant today. Georgia is trying to pass a bill allowing voluntary, public prayer at football games and other school events. This is just like the 1995 case, but now this could be legal, starting yet another controversy about religion. I think this amendment has contributed to what it mean to be American, by helping create the diversity we think of as linked to America today, also making America a non- one religion country, and helping people to share traditions, and connect as a country through religion.