Prayer and the Supreme Court

In Lee, a middle school principal in Providence, Rhode Island, invited a rabbi to offer a nonsectarian invocation and benediction at graduation. The principal acted according to the policy of the Providence School Committee. Deborah Weisman, a 14-year-old student, objected, but the District Court denied her request for a temporary restraining order. Weisman attended graduation, and the rabbi conducted the observance. Afterwards, Weisman sought a permanent injunction prohibiting any invocation or benediction at future graduations. The District Court, applying the Lemon test, found that the schoolÆs actions advanced religion and thus violated the Establishment Clause. The District Court issued a permanent injunction, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The school district appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled five to four in WeismanÆs favor.

Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. He held that Lemon did not apply because the ôgovernment involvement with religious activity in this case is pervasive.ö Instead, K

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be forced to accommodate religion if doing so lifts a ôdiscernible burden on the free exercise of religion.ö That, however, is not the case here. As Souter indicates, the students who want prayer have no burden here; they can pray before or after the ceremony. ôBecause they have no need for the machinery of the State to affirm their beliefs, governmentÆs sponsorship of prayer at the graduation ceremony is most reasonably understood as an official endorsement of religion.ö SouterÆs opinion proved so compelling that the dissenters did not even try to answer him. Instead, Justice Scalia (joined by Justices Rehnquist, White, and Thomas) began by embarking on a journey through American history, showing that it is ôreplete with public ceremonies featuring prayers of thanksgiving and petition.ö Religious observances at major American events include the President taking the oath, Thanksgiving Day, and the prayer that opens every Congressional session. Similarly, graduation ceremonies are an important rite of passage that traditionally have included invocations and benedictions. Therefore, prohibiting prayer at graduation is only necessary if coercion is involved, which Scalia did not find. Scalia took a formalistic appr
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Approximate Word count = 1636
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)