Graduation Affirmation
When It Comes To Decision s About Prayer, The Majority Doesn’t Rule, Texas
Lawsuit Settlement Declares
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=cs_&page=NewsArticle&id=9778
By Lauren Smith
Imagine you are standing in a polling booth on Election Day. You’re about
to cast your ballot when you see this proposal: “All city events and
meetings shall open with prayer.” How odd, you think, because you’re sure
the separation of church and state prohibits majority rule in religious
matters.
You would be right, but that’s exactly what happened last year at four
high
schools in the Austin, Texas, area. The Round Rock Independent School
District (RRISD) asked graduating seniors to vote on whether prayer would
be included in their upcoming commencement ceremonies.
At three of the schools, the vote for prayer passed without much fanfare
or
interest – only 188 of 435 seniors cast a ballot at one school. Graduating
seniors at Westwood High School, however, voted not to include the prayer.
Westwood officials apparently thought their students had made a mistake.
Assistant Superintendent Rosena Malone had students vote again at a
mandatory graduation practice a few days later. Students had four choices:
“benediction,” “no benediction,” “moment of silence” and “I don’t care.”
“No benediction” won with 38.6 percent of the vote. The Westwood students
had made their objection clear, but prayers were included in graduation
ceremonies at McNeil, Round Rock and Stony Point High Schools. Graduation
day came and went, yet still parents and students wondered why the school
had the authority to include the prayers in the first place.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit against
RRISD in August 2007 on behalf of six local parents and a former student.
Officials at the four RRISD high schools, Americans United alleged in Does
v. Round Rock Independent School District, organized, oversaw and
attempted
to manipulate the election. (See “Round Rock Rumble,” October 2007 Church
&
State.)
Last month, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks approved a settlement ending
the
practice.
The settlement stipulates that “RRISD and its officers, employees, and
agents shall not hold or conduct any election or vote by RRISD students on
whether a prayer, benediction, invocation or other religious communication
should be included in any graduation ceremony of any RRISD school…” Sparks
also retains the power to enforce the settlement’s terms.
The school’s prayer policy was based on a 1992 appellate court decision
called Jones v. Clear Creek Independent School District, which said public
school students could elect to include non-sectarian, non-proselytizing
prayers in their commencement ceremonies.
That holding, however, was effectively overruled by the U.S. Supreme
Court’s decision in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000). In
that decision, a six-justice majority held that the District’s policy
permitting student-initiated, student-led prayer over the public address
system at football games violated the separation of church and state.
In his opinion for the high court, Justice John Paul Stevens concluded
that
allowing schools to adopt policies that purposefully or effectively impose
the majority’s religion on others “encourages divisiveness along religious
lines and threatens [to coerce] those students not desiring to participate
in the religious exercise.”
The plaintiffs in the Round Rock case, as in many cases where religious
minorities’ rights are at stake, know how true that is. The parents and
former student who sued RRISD remain anonymous in court do***ents because
they fear their success could evoke their neighbors’ ire.
AU Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan praised the settlement.
“It’s a significant victory because it clears up the misconception that
the
majority rules when it comes to religion,” Khan said. “This ruling should
send a clear message to school districts.”
The agreement also means the Round Rock school district won’t waste time
and taxpayer dollars defending an indefensible policy.
Plaintiff Lisa Jones (not her real name) was pleased about that.
“I’m really happy it settled,” she told Church & State. “Round Rock
shouldn’t have been doing this in the first place.”
Lauren Smith has served for three years as a communications assistant at
Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She resigned this
month to attend the University of Michigan Law School.
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why
"a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v.
Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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