Tag Archives: ZZ: Town of Greece v. Galloway

SCOTUS LiveBlog is reporting that the U.S. Supreme took no action in Town of Greece v. Galloway (legislative prayer case) or Elmbrook School District v. Doe (public high school graduations in church buildings).

Star Gazette: David Cortman, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said using prayer to open public meetings is a long-standing American tradition that has been upheld by the Supreme Court. “Nonetheless, new legal attacks by people and activist groups claiming to be ‘offended’ by the way private citizens voluntarily pray have created significant confusion in the lower courts,” he said. In the Greece case, the Court of Appeals “suggested the current legal complexity may cause local and state governments to abandon the practice, which predates the founding of America.”

Democrat and Chronicle: David Cortman, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said using prayer to open public meetings is a long-standing American tradition that has previously been upheld by the Supreme Court. “Nonetheless, new legal attacks by people and activist groups claiming to be ‘offended’ by the way private citizens voluntarily pray have created significant confusion in the lower courts,” he said. In the Greece case, the Court of Appeals “suggested the current legal complexity may cause local and state governments to abandon the practice, which predates the founding of America.”

More information here.

Brett Harvey and Joel Oster at the Federalist Society: Tension between the Supreme Court’s holding in Marsh and the dictum in Allegheny has created confusion in the lower courts regarding the proper standard(s) to use when evaluating legislative prayer practices. Central to the confusion is the government’s role in regulating the content of legislative prayers. For courts that apply the endorsement test to the context surrounding a legislative prayer practice, distinguishing between private expression and government expression is critical to the viability of the practice. For courts that apply a historical analysis, as in Marsh, the content of the prayer does not define the analysis absent evidence of government exploitation, irrespective of its classification as government or private expression. The First Amendment is a shield against a government-imposed civil orthodoxy. Legislative prayer is a historic tradition practiced across the country at every level of government. The circuits are irreconcilably conflicted about the application of fundamental, constitutional principles. The current disputes provide the Supreme Court with an opportunity to resolve these conflicts and provide clarity to the law.

One News Now: The two recent appeals court rulings were in favor of prayer before town council meetings in Lancaster, California and Lakeland, Florida. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Brett Harvey tells American Family News the lawsuits were filed by atheists. “They’ve got two complaints: Their first complaint is that there’s any prayer at all. But they know that that’s a tall order in light of clear Supreme Court precedent that says you can have a prayer, so they’ve modified their complaint to say, Well, you can pray, but you can’t pray in the name of Jesus,” Harvey reports.

Sacramento Bee: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled on Tuesday that the Lancaster City Council’s invocation policy is constitutional because it allows for the opening prayer to be said by any faith or religion. | Rubin v. City of Lancaster

FRC: Signed by 49 Members of Congress, including the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, the document makes a convincing argument that prayers before government meetings are constitutional and a matter of religious liberty for all Americans. You can read the brief in its entirety here. FRC filed the brief on behalf of the Members to support the Alliance Defending Freedom’s petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Town of Greece v. Galloway . . . FRC’s friends at the Alliance Defending Freedom have compiled a list of all relevant briefs, including FRC’s and that of a group of distinguished theologians.

PRNewswire: Family Research Council’s (FRC) Ken Klukowski, J.D., has submitted an amicus brief on behalf of 49 Members of Congress supporting the Alliance Defending Freedom’s petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Town of Greece v. Galloway.

Supreme Court filings demonstrate breadth of support for historical practice of prayer before public meetings