Written by Don Byrd
I have to hand it to Alabama State Representative Steve Hurst. Despite clearly established First Amendment law prohibiting school-sponsored prayer in public schools, he is still trying to find some way to make it a reality. Via Religion Clause, House Bill 318 would require schools to open the day with a 15-minute session that includes a prayer. How does he try to sidestep that pesky thing called the Constitution? Well, according to Hurst, it’s not really prayer as a religious exercise. It is instead an education in civic history because schools will be merely reading prayers that have been delivered in Congress and the state legislature to open their days.
Sneaky, huh? He just wants to expose the students to those great prayers of congressional and state capitol history.
The Anniston Star brings us the quote of the day, from Hurst:
“If Congress can open with a prayer, and the state of Alabama Legislature can, I don’t see why schools can’t,” said Rep. Steve Hurst, R-Munford, the bill’s sponsor.
Really? Don’t see why?
Rep. Hurst may not see it, but there are significant and obvious differences between Congress and state legislatures on the one hand and public schools on the other that make his proposal especially outrageous. First, public school attendees are *children.* Courts consistently emphasize the importance of safeguarding children from the coercive effects of state-sponsored prayers in school and at school events. Parents should be the ones to make decisions regarding the religious indoctrination of their children, not principals and certainly not state legislators.
Second, students are a captive audience. They are required to be at school. If you have ever watched an opening prayer in Congress, you know that hardly anyone is there. And the gallery that is there plays just an observer’s role, not a participant in the congressional session.
So, I award points for ingenuity to Rep. Hurst, but his proposal still falls short. School-sponsored prayer, no matter how you package it, runs afoul of the religious freedom rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
