Freedom Writer - July 1994 [ref001] Graduation prayer advisory Public school officials sho

Freedom Writer - July 1994

[ref001]

Graduation prayer advisory

Public school officials should resist Religious Right pressure to 
include prayer in graduation ceremonies, according to Americans United 
for Separation of Church and State. In a letter and legal memorandum 
sent to school administrators in all 50 states, the religious liberty 
watchdog organization said organized religious worship at public school 
events is unconstitutional under a long line of Supreme Court church-state 
rulings. 

Americans United Legal Director Steven K. Green warned that Pat Robertson's 
American Center for Law and Justice and other Religious Right legal 
aid groups are distributing "misleading and inaccurate" information 
on the subject. The ACLJ and other allied groups claim that schools 
may allow graduating seniors to vote on whether to choose a classmate 
to lead prayers. (The advice is based on _Jones_v._Clear_Creek_Independent_
School_District_, a 1993 Federal Appeals Court decision from Texas.)

However, Green said the _Jones_ decision is not in keeping with the 
Supreme Court's 1993 _Lee_v._Weisman_ decision and other rulings that 
bar state-sponsored prayer at graduation and other public school events. 
"The Constitution mandates that decisions on religious worship be 
left to the individual and not be subject to majority vote," Green 
observed. 

Graduation prayer remains a hot issue around the country. In five 
states -- New Jersey, Idaho, Texas, Florida, and Tennessee -- federal 
lawsuits are ongoing. In addition, state legislatures have debated 
the role of prayer at graduation ceremonies and other public school 
events. Six states -- Georgia, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, 
and Tennessee -- have approved bills on the subject. The issue has 
been debated in at least three other states and the District of Columbia.

[ref002][ref003] Return to table of contents 

Copyright 1995 IFAS
The Freedom Writer / ifas@crocker.com

[ref001] ../banner.gif
[ref002] index.html
[ref003] ../../uparrow.gif

        This file is copywritten by the Institute for First
        Amendment Studies.

        Subscribe to The Freedom Writer and Walk Away news
        letters by writing to or telephoneing the Institute
        for First Amendment Studies:

        Post Office Box 589
        Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  01230
        Telephone: (413) 528-3800
        E-Mail: ifas@crocker.com
        Web page: http://www.crocker.com/~ifas