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'{{SCOTUSCase |Litigants=Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe |ArgueDate=March 29 |ArgueYear=2000 |DecideDate=June 19 |DecideYear=2000 |FullName=Santa Fe Independent School District, Petitioner v. Jane Doe, individually and as [[next friend]] for her [[Minor (law)|minor]] children, Jane and John Doe, et al. |USVol=530 |USPage=290 |Citation=120 S. Ct. 2266; 147 L. Ed. 2d 295 |Prior=168 F.3d 806 ([[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit|5th Cir.]] 1999), affirmed |Subsequent= |Holding=Student-led, student-initiated prayer at high school football games violates the Establishment Clause. |SCOTUS=1994-2005 |Majority=Stevens |JoinMajority=O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer |Dissent=Rehnquist |JoinDissent=Scalia, Thomas |LawsApplied=[[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|U.S. Const. amend. I]] }} '''''Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe''''', [[Case citation|530 U.S. 290]] (2000), was a case heard before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]]. It ruled that a policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at high school football games violates the [[Establishment Clause of the First Amendment|Establishment Clause]] of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]]. [[Oral argument]]s were heard March 29, 2000. The court announced its decision on June 19, holding the policy unconstitutional in a 6-3 decision. [[School prayer]] is a controversial topic in American jurisprudence. ==Background of the case== The [[Santa Fe Independent School District]] (SFISD), a rural [[school district]] in [[Texas]] between the cities of [[Houston]] and [[Galveston]], allowed students to offer [[Prayer in Christianity|Christian prayers]] over the [[public address system]] at home football games. These prayers were given by an elected student [[chaplain]]. Two sets of current or former students and their respective mothers&mdash;one [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Mormon]], the other [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]]&mdash;objected to this practice and filed a suit on the basis of a violation of the Establishment Clause. Judge [[Samuel B. Kent]] of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas]] allowed the plaintiffs to remain anonymous to protect them from harassment. They are referred to as the Does. During the litigation, the school changed its policy: they would hold two elections under students, the first deciding if "invocations" should be held during football games and the second to elect the student to deliver them. The students elected in favor of prayer; therefore, they were given this right. The district court allowed this policy, though it required that they be [[nonsectarian]] and non-[[Proselytism|proselytizing]]. The judge's main authority was ''Jones v. Clear Creek ISD'' (Clear Creek ISD being another Houston-area school district), which allows certain school prayers. The district court's final judgment was in December 1996. ===Fifth Circuit decision=== Both the SFISD and the Does appealed to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]. The SFISD appealed because it claimed the words 'nonsectarian and non-proselytizing' should not be necessary. The Does wanted the football prayers found unconstitutional altogether. In a 2-1 decision, [[Jacques L. Wiener, Jr.]], and [[Carl E. Stewart]], ruling for the court, decided that "the words 'nonsectarian, nonproselytizing' are constitutionally necessary components" of a policy governing prayer. Moreover it also decided that these student-led prayers were only acceptable at graduation, not during football games. The majority opinion was written by Wiener.<ref>[http://www.faculty.piercelaw.edu/redfield/library/case-JaneDoe.SantaFe-n.htm Opinion of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit].</ref> [[E. Grady Jolly]] dissented, objecting that now "the majority expressly exerts control over the content of its citizens' prayers." The Supreme Court granted [[certiorari]], limited to the following question: "Whether petitioner's policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause." ==The Court decision== The Court held that the policy allowing the student led prayer at the football games was unconstitutional. The majority opinion, written by Justice [[John Paul Stevens|Stevens]], depended on [[Lee v. Weisman]].<ref>505 U.S. 577 (1992)</ref> It held that these pre-game prayers delivered "on school property, at school-sponsored events, over the school's public address system, by a speaker representing the student body, under the supervision of school faculty, and pursuant to a school policy that explicitly and implicitly encourages public prayer" are not private, but public speech. "Regardless of the listener's support for, or objection to, the message, an objective Santa Fe High School student will unquestionably perceive the inevitable pregame prayer as stamped with her school's seal of approval." A dissenting opinion was written by Chief Justice [[William Rehnquist|Rehnquist]], joined by Justices [[Antonin Scalia|Scalia]] and [[Clarence Thomas|Thomas]]. His dissent asserted that the majority opinion "bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life". His material objections were, first that the policy on which the Court has now ruled had not yet put in to practice. "[T]he question is not whether the district's policy may be applied in violation of the Establishment Clause, but whether it inevitably will be." Second, Rehnquist also stated that the speech in question would be private, chosen and delivered by the speaker, rather than public, school-sponsored speech. sponge bob decicde to eat a squid. he is now in custody for cannibleism ==See also== * [[List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 530]] * [[List of United States Supreme Court cases]] * [[Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Wikisource-inline|Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe}} *{{Caselaw source |case=''Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe'', 530 U.S. 290 (2000) |findlaw=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=530&page=290 |justia=http://supreme.justia.com/us/530/290/case.html |other_source1=LII |other_url1=http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-62.ZS.html }} {{US1stAmendment|establishment|state=expanded}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Fe Independent School Dist. V. Doe}} [[Category:United States Supreme Court cases]] [[Category:Establishment Clause case law]] [[Category:United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court]] [[Category:United States education case law]] [[Category:2000 in United States case law]] [[Category:2000 in religion]] [[Category:2000 in education]]'