Religion Law Quiz #39 (Prayer at the beginning of legislative sessions)

Why is it that Congress and other state legislatures can open their session with prayer without running afoul of the Establishment Clause? 

 

(Scroll down for the answer)

 

 

 

 

 

The U.S. Supreme Court answered this question in 2014 in Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway when it stated:

 

In Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783, 103 S.Ct. 3330, the Court found no First Amendment violation in the Nebraska Legislature's practice of opening its sessions with a prayer delivered by a chaplain paid from state funds. The decision concluded that legislative prayer, while religious in nature, has long been understood as compatible with the Establishment Clause. As practiced by Congress since the framing of the Constitution, legislative prayer lends gravity to public business, reminds lawmakers to transcend petty differences in pursuit of a higher purpose, and expresses a common aspiration to a just and peaceful society. See Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 693, 104 S.Ct. 1355, 79 L.Ed.2d 604 (1984) (O'Connor, J., concurring); cf. A. Adams & C. Emmerich, A Nation Dedicated to Religious Liberty 83 (1990). The Court has considered this symbolic expression to be a “tolerable acknowledgement of beliefs widely held,” Marsh, 463 U.S., at 792, 103 S.Ct. 3330, rather than a first, treacherous step towards establishment of a state church.

 

Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway, 572 U.S. 565, 575, 134 S. Ct. 1811, 1818, 188 L. Ed. 2d 835 (2014)

 

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