Written by Samantha
Both the Principal (Frank Lay) and the Director of Athletics (Robert Freeman) at a Florida high School in Santa Rosa County are facing the possibility of fines, jail time and the loss of their retirement benefits. Why? During a luncheon to honor financial contributors for the school’s athletic Field House, Principal Lay reportedly asked Mr. Freeman to offer a blessing for the meal. It should be noted that students were not present at the time of the prayer.
The ACLU complained to U.S. District Judge Margaret C. Rodgers and the judge issued a contempt order for the two men.
Rep. Jeff Miller who represents the district where the school is located criticized the order, saying, “a federal judge has gone well outside the bounds of the Constitution to declare that prayer offered among adults is illegal.” There was “zero student participation” at the event, “That the court would somehow consider this action to be criminal behavior is simply unconscionable. The judge’s injunction tramples upon the First Amendment rights of a specific group of people, denying them the equal protection that is provided under the very Constitution that we believe in.”
It should be noted that the the school officials have the support of more than 60 members of Congress. The judge is set to deliver a ruling sometime Thursday. You can read more here.
In reading more about this story, it appears there was a consent decree in place which prohibited school officials from “promoting, advancing, endorsing, participating in or causing prayers during or in conjunction with school events.” I believe that is why they are in trouble – for violating the consent degree.
It should also be noted that the ACLU has publically stated that they don’t believe anyone should go to jail over this incident.
Lastly, I think there is some disagreement as to whether any students were present during this prayer. Apparently, culinary class members prepared and served the meal. This is according to AOL news.
I do understand why many are upset by this case, however. Obviously, the proposed punishments are completely absurd and over the top. It is my personal opinion that Principal Lay probably should have been more mindful of the consent decree, but I doubt he was purposely trying to ignore it. A letter reminding him of his responsibility to follow the decree would be all I would suggest.
Honestly, I would think both the FL courts and school system have larger concerns to deal with than this.
Exactly. The proposed punishments are absolutely laughable. Any legal punishment is unacceptable in my opinion. This judge is having a hay day and I sincerely hope she becomes a laughing stock. As if they don’t have bigger fish to fry in Florida.
For me even if students did prepare the meal (I checked 2 sources and did not see that so I apologize if that is the case, I did not intend to misrepresent the facts) the adults who were guests of the meal (the students were not, correct?) should be allowed to pray beforehand if that is there personal conviction. The way I understand it it did not directly involve students.
It angers me intensely that it is being taken this far.
I think what really gets to me is that this case has gone this far. I believe that the school district should have been allowed to handle this. I agree that a letter would have sufficed.
Sam, thanks for posting this. I had read about his before, I didn’t know they were in trouble again.
I don’t remember all the facts, but irc, this school broadcasts morning prayers and in some other ways endorsed religion. The last thing I had read was that, in protest, some of the seniors stood up and recited The Lord’s Prayer at their graduation.
The school officials had agreed to terms from the ACLU in the consent decree Anya referenced above, so they are well-aware of the consequences. I agree these punishments are laughable for the incident. I think the important thing to resolve is complaince and/or changes for the future. Was it an act of defiance or a slip-up?
Was a contempt motion the only option? I agree that a warning letter would have sufficed for this incident. If the school is willing to comply, this is a waste of time and money.
I’m happy to announce they received a verdict of not guilty. Mr. Lay was asked if knowing then what he knows now if he would do the same thing again and he said he would not intentionally violate the law. He explained that he did not realize at the time that bc students had prepared the meal that he was in violation and he was acting on what came naturally to him when they said the blessing, nothing more. In his mind it wasn’t a student event so I honestly don’t think he was acting in defiance.
I’m glad to hear about the verdict – it does seem that the proposed punishments went far beyond the bounds of what’s appropriate.
While I’m not offended by prayer, at all, I do wish people who share the prevailing religous beliefs of the country would understand that not everyone is religious, not everyone is Christian and prays the way that you do or to your god, and perhaps be a little more sensitive to that. I don’t think that it’s necessary for people to get all offended about a simple prayer, but at the same time perhaps people might realize that you are excluding people who don’t share your beliefs.
Sam, that’s good to hear. I’m glad it ended it this way without further investment of time and money.
Sam –
There is an issue here in my town about a big supermarket chain having a crucifix hanging in one of their new stores. Apparently the store manager is Christian and put it there (with permission from the store owners). I have no problem with it, but wonder what others may think.
The US has lost it’s collective mind. I went to school in the 60’s and prayer was allowed everywhere. We had prayers by Ministers, Priests and Rabbi’s. Now, you can’t even wear a cross to some schools and look at the problems. We have kids killing other kids in school. We used to get in trouble for just chewing gum or for skirts an inch above our knees. Girls go to school looking like whores at the age of 13 and people get their panties in a twist because somebody said the Lord’s prayer. It’s time people stopped being so “inclusive” and started standing up for morality or we won’t have much of a country left!
Susan, I don’t agree with the conflating of prayer/religiosity and morality. I’ve known many moral atheists, agnostics, and people who subscribe to spiritual beliefs that don’t necessarily include a Judeo-Christian God or prayer. There may have been things that were better in the 60s, but there were other things that were a lot worse – the civil rights situation, for one. I’m pretty sure many of the hardcore racists in the Deep South were probably churchgoers, and I certainly don’t think that means they were better or more moral people.
I have no problem with people praying; I just generally feel that it can be done on their own time or as a private thing, rather than something that is forced on people who don’t subscribe to the same beliefs. The way you sneer at the idea of “inclusive” is a bit insulting to those with different belief systems.
I used the word inclusive sarcastically because it’s meaning has been changed to exclude. I don’t understand why it would be so bad for children and young people to be exposed to religion in school. Why would it be so bad to hear a prayer before a football game, especially if it’s non denominational? In fact, why would learning a little about other religions be so bad? How can it hurt a child to hear a Jewish, Christian or Muslim prayer? In fact, wouldn’t that teach acceptance and understanding?