Court Hears Arguments In Prayer Case

By Mark Walsh

Washington

Student-led prayers at high school football games received a generally skeptical reception at the U.S. Supreme Court last week, as the justices took up one of the nation's most divisive debates involving religion and public education.

At issue is the Santa Fe, Texas, school district's 1995 policy authorizing students to elect one of their classmates to deliver a "brief invocation and/or message" to "solemnize" and "promote good sportsmanship and student safety" at its home football games. In practice, district students have generally used such occasions to lead Christian prayers.

The district argues that its policy does not advance religion but creates a neutral forum for private student...