Written by Don Byrd
The U.S. Supreme Court rarely hears church-state cases. It’s been 30 years since a dispute over government-sponsored prayer made if to the high court. So tomorrow is a big day for church-state observers! Town of Greece v. Galloway involves a challenge to the opening prayer policy of a city council in New York State.
Proponents of the policy note that they allow clergy of any faith sign up to deliver an opening prayer. That diversity, they say, resolves any concern that the prayers amount to a government endorsement of Christianity. Limiting those prayers by requiring them to be nonsectarian, they add, would improperly entangle the government with the content of prayer.
Opponents of this policy, including the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, counter that the rotating policy in this case, is not producing much real diversity, but even if it did such a strategy does not cure the constitutional defect. After all, citizens who attend a meeting to participate in their government don’t experience a rotation of clergy. They experience the one prayer featured in that particular meeting. In addition, local government meetings invite citizen participation, not mere observance from a gallery like you may find in Congress or a state legislature. In the local setting, it’s even more important, they argue, to take steps ensuring government neutrality toward religion.
Most important is whatever the nine Justices decide to make their focus. It could be one of those issues, or something else entirely. We will start to get an indication from their questioning tomorrow. Stay tuned! Come back here for updates and highlight tomorrow from the oral arguments once a transcript is provided.
