Religion Law Quiz #44 (Disagreement with the prayer in the legislative setting)

The last few Religion Law Quizzes have focused on prayer at the beginning of legislative sessions and town meetings.  But it is important to remember that, in any given legislative session or town meeting, there will be people who may not want to join in the expression of prayer or approve of its content.  How has the Supreme Court addressed this issue? 

 

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The Supreme Court addressed this issue in the following manner in its 2014 decision in Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway where it stated:

 

The prayer opportunity in this case must be evaluated against the backdrop of historical practice. As a practice that has long endured, legislative prayer has become part of our heritage and tradition, part of our expressive idiom, similar to the Pledge of Allegiance, inaugural prayer, or the recitation of “God save the United States and this honorable Court” at the opening of this Court's sessions. See Lynch, 465 U.S., at 693, 104 S.Ct. 1355 (O'Connor, J., concurring). It is presumed that the reasonable observer is acquainted with this tradition and understands that its purposes are to lend gravity to public proceedings and to acknowledge the place religion holds in the lives of many private citizens, not to afford government an opportunity to proselytize or force truant constituents into the pews. See Salazar v. Buono, 559 U.S. 700, 720–721, 130 S.Ct. 1803, 176 L.Ed.2d 634 (2010) (plurality opinion); Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290, 308, 120 S.Ct. 2266, 147 L.Ed.2d 295 (2000). That many appreciate these acknowledgments of the divine in our public institutions does not suggest that those who disagree are compelled to join the expression or approve its content.  West Virginia State Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 642, 63 S.Ct. 1178, 87 L.Ed. 1628 (1943).  That many appreciate these acknowledgments of the divine in our public institutions does not suggest that those who disagree are compelled to join the expression or approve its content.

 

Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway, 572 U.S. 565, 587, 134 S. Ct. 1811, 1825, 188 L. Ed. 2d 835 (2014).

 

Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.