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Federal Judge Rules Against School-Mandated Prayer at Kentucky High School Graduation Ceremony (5/19/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
LOUISVILLE, KY –
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky announced today that U.S.
District Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr. has issued a temporary restraining order
to prevent Russell County High School from including prayer during its
graduation ceremony tonight.
“This case is not about whether people
can or should pray; it’s about families and individuals deciding for themselves
whether, when, and how to pray,” said Lili S. Lutgens, a staff attorney at the
ACLU of Kentucky. “Our founders intended that these religious decisions be
made by individuals and families, not the government.”
The ACLU of
Kentucky sought the order Tuesday on behalf of a Russell County senior who
believes that the planned prayers would have been an unconstitutional
endorsement of religion and of specific religious views by the
school.
Students who want to pray are free to organize a private,
religious baccalaureate service before or after graduation, Lutgens said, but
including prayers in the official graduation ceremony is a violation of the
First Amendment’s prohibition against government-sponsored
religion.
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the inclusion of
clergy-led prayer at public school graduations and student-led prayer at school
sporting events. “The Constitution forbids the state to exact religious
conformity from a student as the price of attending her own high school
graduation,” the Court wrote in its 1992 Lee v. Weisman
decision.
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