Louisiana: ACLU files 7th suit against Tangipahoa over school board prayer
Janet McConnaughey reports on the AP:
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Tangipahoa Parish School Board on Friday — its seventh federal court challenge to the board’s prayer policies, with two others scheduled for court dates next month . . .
Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal agency which often represents conservative Christian causes, said the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., has upheld an identical policy for a city council.
“This is a completely constitutional policy, and the courts will make that clear,” he said . . .
Johnson said he thinks the suit filed Friday is outrageous. “The board specifically invited the ACLU to make any constructive comments or suggestions that they wanted about the new policy. It invited them to critique it and make suggestions,” Johnson said. “They chose once again the bullying tactics of a lawsuit instead of a constructive dialogue.”
The ACLU is “not in the business of telling governmental bodies how to obey the law,” Esman said. “More importantly, if they are endorsing religion by inviting clergy in to give prayers, there isn’t really a way to fix that.”
The ACLU’s press release and complaint are here.