Annual 'See You at the Pole' event places focus on students' freedom to pray
ADF legal memo explains constitutional freedoms of participating students
Attorney sound bite: Matt Sharp
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Alliance Defending Freedom is making available a legal memo that explains and reinforces the First Amendment freedom of students to participate in Wednesday’s “See You at the Pole” event. SYATP is an annual, student-organized, and student-led gathering held at school flagpoles around the world that provides students with the opportunity to pray for their school, friends, teachers, government, and nation.“Students don’t abandon their constitutional freedoms at the schoolhouse gate,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “They continue to have the freedom to peacefully express their beliefs while at school, and that certainly includes prayer. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of the students’ religious or political beliefs.”
In the past, some government school officials have unconstitutionally kept students from sharing about and participating in the event, often erroneously citing the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
The Alliance Defending Freedom legal memo explains that “students have a constitutional right to participate in SYATP through prayer and worship activities” and “have constitutional rights to inform their fellow students about the SYATP event as long as they do not materially disrupt the academic process while doing so.”
The legal memo also notes that the Supreme Court has ruled that “religious speech is protected by the First Amendment and may not be singled out for discrimination.” With respect to prayer specifically, the high court wrote in 2000 that “nothing in the Constitution as interpreted by this Court prohibits any public school student from voluntarily praying at any time before, during, or after the schoolday.”
“The First Amendment protects the freedom of students to participate in ‘See You at the Pole’ and its prayer and worship activities,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “Anyone who says otherwise is misinformed. The purpose of our legal memo is to clarify the freedom of students to hold and participate in this annual event.”
- Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-ko)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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ABOUT Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Public Policy. In this role, he leads ADF's team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life. Since joining ADF in 2010, Sharp has authored federal and state legislation, regularly provides testimony and legal analysis on how proposed legislation will impact constitutional freedoms, and advises governors, legislators, and state and national policy organizations on the importance of laws and policies that protect First Amendment rights. He has twice testified before the U.S. Congress on the importance of protecting free speech and religious liberty in federal law. Sharp also authored an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 9,000 students, parents, and community members asking the court to uphold students’ right to privacy against government intrusion. Sharp earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.