You Be The Judge
Test your knowledge of the Five Freedoms and see how you match up to the courts...and fellow citizens.
Student Prayer at School-Sponsored Events
For years, students were chosen by classmates to give pre-game prayers at the high school’s football games. Some students sued, arguing that the prayers constituted an endorsement of religion, and violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The district countered that the pre-game invocations were a long-standing tradition in Texas communities. District officials also argued that since the prayer came from a student, the Establishment Clause did not apply. If anything, it was an example of the school honoring the students’ rights to freely exercise their religion.
May students lead mass prayers at football games?
Vote Now!
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Vote AA. NOOnly school administrators, members of the faculty or religious leaders invited by the school may lead prayers at official school-sponsored events, such as football games.
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Vote BB. NOThe delivery of a prayer over the school's public address system, even if by a speaker representing the student body, cannot properly be characterized as 'private' speech.
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Vote CC. YESBecause students are allowed to choose the speaker, the school cannot be seen as offering any sort of endorsement for the ideas expressed.
Icon of Freedom
Cesar Chavez
Champion of the Voiceless
Cesar Chavez, an American farm worker of Mexican descent, was a labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, founded the National Farm Workers' Association (which later became the United Farm Workers). By amplifying the voices of immigrant laborers, Chavez helped end numerous exploitative practices. He is considered one of the country's foremost civil rights leaders.
