Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994 TAG: 9405040142
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Both school-sponsored and student-initiated prayers at school ceremonies violate the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state clause, said Kent Willis, director of the ACLU of Virginia. ``It is highly likely that we would sue any school that included prayers as part of its official graduation ceremony,'' Willis said in an interview.
The ACLU letter comes about one month after the American Center for Law and Justice distributed a letter to 40,000 state and school officials nationwide, urging them to include student-led prayers in graduation ceremonies. ``We believe that the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, have shown pretty clearly that student speech is protected speech,'' said Gene Kapp, spokesman for the center.
Kapp said student-led prayers are protected under a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that distinguishes between prayers decided upon and offered by students and those mandated by school officials.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board last May after learning that four county high schools were allowing students to vote on whether they wanted prayers at their graduation ceremonies.
U.S. District Judge Albert Bryan ruled against the School Board in that case, saying the county's plans for benedictions and invocations were improper because they were initiated by school officials, not students.
But student-led prayers went ahead as scheduled in accordance with a June 22 ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that lifted the judge's order blocking formal prayers at graduation ceremonies.
Six months later, on Dec. 22, Bryan ruled that Loudoun school officials violated the constitutional separation of church and state by allowing the prayers.
by CNB