3rd Circuit rejects Del. school board prayer

NECN.com: In a 72-page ruling issued Friday, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that the board’s prayers, which often are explicitly Christian, are constitutional because the school board is more like a legislative body than a school.

Religion Clause Blog: 3rd Circuit: School Board Prayer Governed By School Prayer Tests, Not By Test For Legislative Invocations

Doe v. Indian River School District, No. 10-1819 (3rd Cir. Aug 5, 2011)

The Indian River School Board (the “Board”) has a long-standing policy of praying at its regularly-scheduled meetings, which are routinely attended by students from the local school district.  Appellants argue that the Board‟s policy is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  The Board claims that a school board is like a legislative body and that its practice of opening board sessions with a prayer is akin to the practice that was upheld in Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983).  In Marsh, the Supreme Court held that Nebraska‟s practice of opening legislative sessions with a prayer was not a violation of the First Amendment‟s Establishment Clause.  The issue in this case is whether a school board may claim the exception established for legislative bodies in Marsh, or whether the traditional Establishment Clause principles governing prayer in public schools apply.  The District Court agreed with the Board‟s conclusion that its actions were constitutional under Marsh.  For the reasons that follow, we will reverse.