Top Story
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Prayer Case
by Bethany MonkThe U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday to hear a case involving a New York town’s policy allowing the presentation of prayers before public meetings.
The town of Greece had, since 1999, allowed clergy- or individual-led prayer from town residents at the opening of town meetings. In February 2008, Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued on behalf of two local residents claiming the practice resulted in too many Christian prayers, which allegedly violates the Constitution.
“Since this nation’s founding, public meetings have been opened with prayers offered according to the conscience of the speaker,” said David Cortman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), representing the town of Greece. “There is no legal reason why a town can’t do this today with people from within its own community. … Anti-religious groups cannot be allowed to force local governments to implement unusual hurdles that effectively eliminate prayers by making them too cumbersome to take place.”
Read More
