Court: Student prayers OK at school board meetings
Civil Litigation News
A Texas school board can open its meetings with student-led public prayers without running afoul of the Constitution's prohibition against government-established religion, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a lower court ruling dismissing a lawsuit against the Birdville Independent School District. The suit was filed by the American Humanist Association and a graduate of Birdville High School.
The panel said student-led prayers for legislative bodies differ from unconstitutional prayers in public schools.
The panel noted a 2014 Supreme Court ruling allowing prayers at a town council meeting in Greece, New York, and said the prayers at the Birdville school board fall under that "legislative prayer exception."
"It would be nonsensical to permit legislative prayers but bar the legislative officers for whom they are being primarily recited from participating in the prayers in any way," Judge Jerry E. Smith wrote for the panel. "Indeed, the Supreme Court did not take issue with the fact that Town of Greece board members bowed their heads during invocations."
The opinion noted that the Birdville school board meetings are held in an administration building — not in a school. People attending can enter and leave at any time, including during the prayer. It said the board meetings open with a student-led Pledge of Allegiance and a statement that can include a prayer, although the statements are sometimes secular.
Related listings
-
Supreme Court strikes down 2 NC congressional districts
Civil Litigation News 07/26/2017The Supreme Court struck down two congressional districts in North Carolina Monday because race played too large a role in their creation.The justices ruled that Republicans who controlled the state legislature and governor's office in 2011 placed to...
-
Court revives black TV network's discrimination lawsuit
Civil Litigation News 07/23/2017A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit claiming that a North Carolina city discriminated against an African-American-owned television network.A divided three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday reversed a lower court...
-
High court ruling may give voter rights groups a strong tool
Civil Litigation News 07/13/2017The Supreme Court's ruling that two North Carolina congressional districts relied too heavily on race should give voting-rights advocates a potent tool to fight other electoral maps drawn to give Republicans an advantage in the state.The justices agr...