ACLJ Calls U.S. Supreme Court Order Permitting Student-Led Graduation Prayer “Correct and Proper”
(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today’s order by the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand a lower court ruling that permits student-led prayer at graduation to continue in Florida represents the “correct and proper†approach to this thorny church-state issue.
“By not taking this case, the Supreme Court clears the way for student-led prayer at graduation to continue in Jacksonville, Florida high schools,†said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which is involved in student-led prayer issues. “We believe the federal appeals court ruled correctly in the Florida case and we’re delighted that the Supreme Court will let that decision stand. At a time when there is a tremendous desire to include religious expression in our nation’s schools, it is proper and constitutional that students be permitted to include a prayer at graduation if they so desire. The Supreme Court has exhibited the correct and proper approach by staying out of the Florida case.â€
The U.S. Supreme Court today said it would not take the Florida case of Adler v. Duval County School Board. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a Florida policy permitting student leaders to include a message of prayer at graduation if they so desired was constitutional. The appeals court found the policy constitutional again after reviewing the case at the direction of the Supreme Court – in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in 2000 in a Texas case that barred student-led prayers at high school football games.
The ACLJ is an international public interest law firm focusing on constitutional issues and religious liberty work.