Case Challenging Daily Prayers at Miss. School Goes to Trial

The case of Lisa Herdahl, the Wisconsin transplant who challenged a tradition of intercom prayers and other religious activity in a Mississippi school district, went to trial last week in federal court.

Ms. Herdahl and her children are challenging longstanding practices in the 2,600-student Pontotoc County district, including prayers read by students over the public-address system and religion classes subsidized by local churches.

Ms. Herdahl, who moved to Ecru, Miss., in 1993, argues that organized prayers do not belong in the public schools. Her lawsuit challenges prayers at the North Pontotoc Attendance Center, where five of her...