Santa Fe Independent
School District VS Jane
Doe
by Minerva Delgado & Lauren Moore
:-)
Facts
●
In Santa Fe, Texas, students were elected by their classmates to give pre-game prayers at high
school football games over the public address system.
●
A handful of students sued, arguing that such solemnizing statements or prayers constituted
an endorsement of religion, violating the Establishment Clause.
●
The district countered that the pre-game invocations were a long-standing tradition in Texas
communities. Moreover, the prayer came from a student, thus making it student speech and
not state-sponsored speech.
Lower Court Verdict
● District court decided on having student led
prayers along with a student vote on who
would be giving the prayers.
● In order for this not to break the
establishment clause, prayers had to be
nonsectarian.
Relief sought
Many students felt as though their own rights
were being violated by the state and their own
schools.
A 6-3 Majority Vote
Majority decision
● In a ruling of 6-3 Doe won by saying that
prayer breaks the establishment clause.
● Students should not be forced to practice in
religious activity.
Dissenting opinion
● William Rehnquist wrote the dissenting
opinion.
● Along with him followed Justice Scalia and
Justice Thomas.
● In his opinion we shouldn’t
References
Resources
First Amendment Schools: The Five Freedoms - Court Case. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/freedoms/case.aspx?id=489
SANTA FE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. v. DOE. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1999/1999_99_62
Supreme Court Rules School Sponsored Prayer Unconstitutional. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http://www.civilrights.org/monitor/vol11_no4/art2p1.html
FindLaw | Cases and Codes. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=99-62
SANTA FE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. v. DOE. (2000, June 19). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http://vftonline.org/EndTheWall/Doe.htm
SANTA FE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. V. DOE. (2000, June 19). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-62.ZO.html