School Board Prayers Are Illegal, Court Rules
Public prayers before school board meetings violate the First Amendment's prohibition against government establishment of religion, a federal appeals court has ruled.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, based in Cincinnati, ruled 2-1 against the Cleveland board of education's practice of opening its meetings with a prayer by a minister. The board included such prayers from 1992 to 1995, when a new board dropped the practice.
The court said in its March 18 decision that school board prayer fell between the contours of two U.S. Supreme Court rulings. In the 1983 case of Marsh v. Chambers , the high court upheld the Nebraska legislature's practice of opening its sessions with a prayer by a chaplain. In the 1992 case of Lee v. Weisman , the court struck down clergy-led prayers at the graduation ceremonies of a...
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