DALLAS _ A federal court ruled this week that a North Texas school district can continue student-led prayers at its board meetings in another case that tested the boundaries of religious expression in government.
Birdville Independent School District graduate Isaiah Smith and the nonprofit American Humanist Association sued the Haltom City-based district two years ago, alleging that the Christian prayers at the school board meetings made Smith feel "violated and uncomfortable." Smith, who said he attended meetings before and after his 2014 graduation, told the court that the district's practice violated the Constitution by pressuring students and others to participate.
A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
"Occasionally, BISD board members and other school officials will ask the audience, including any students in the audience, to stand for the invocation," Judge Jerry E. Smith wrote. "Those polite requests, however, do not coerce prayer."
Monica Miller, a lawyer for Smith and AHA, told Reuters that they were reviewing their options, including asking the entire New Orleans-based appeals court to review the case.
Court documents detail the district's practice. Since 1997, two students have opened school board meetings _ one by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the other by delivering a one-minute statement, which can be a prayer. Elementary and middle-school students were originally selected based on merit, but the district later changed its policy to pick students at random from a list of volunteers.
Speakers frequently choose to say prayers and reference "Jesus" and "Christ," according to the court file.
Religious expression in government is often a tricky matter. Public officials must respect people's right to freely practice religion while obeying another clause in the First Amendment that forbids the government from endorsing a religion.
Federal courts occasionally have to step in to make a determination about what is constitutional and what is not.
The Supreme Court has twice ruled that ceremonial prayers in government buildings like state capitols and town halls are allowable because they are part of tradition long followed by legislative bodies.
But courts have shown to be more sensitive about prayer in public schools. They have argued that the risk of government coercion is higher when dealing with children.
The 5th Circuit panel agreed with Birdville ISD that "a school board is more like a legislature than a school classroom or event." The judges noted that the meetings are held in an administrative building, that most attendees are adults and that they are free to enter or leave at any time.
Among Birdville ISD's supporters is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He led a 15-state coalition that filed a court brief in November asking the appellate judges to uphold religious freedom.
"The student expressions permitted by the Birdville ISD policy are the private speech of the students and thus are permissible under the First Amendment," Paxton said in a news release.
