ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 21, 1993                   TAG: 9305210458
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DON'T RUN SCARED FROM THE ACLU

IT IS REPORTED that the American Civil Liberties Union has announced to the public schools that it will monitor the presence of prayer or hymns of religious content at upcoming baccalaureate and graduation services, which would be in violation of recent rulings by the Supreme Court.

For many years, public schools have been timid in the face of these repeated rulings by the court. The danger to the students is that school administrations will overreact to the warning by the ACLU.

It is fairly well accepted that school administrations cannot themselves order prayers at school functions. On the other hand, the First Amendment, which prohibits any government from promoting a religion, also provides that no authority may interfere with the free exercise of religion by its citizens.

Therefore, public-school students - if they wish, and on their own initiative - may enjoy prayer and church hymns at their baccalaureate and graduation services, and school administrators have no authority to interfere with that exercise. THOMAS C. FISHER JR. ROANOKE 


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