High Court won't hear prayer case
___By Robert Marus
___Associated Baptist Press
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging a mandatory "moment of silence" in public schools.
___By refusing the case without comment, the high court left standing a ruling by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Virginia law does not violate the separation of church and state.
___The year-old law requires teachers and students at public schools to observe a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day. The law specifically lists prayer as one activity in which students may engage during the mandatory time of silence.
___The Supreme Court has ruled for decades that the First Amendment forbids state-sponsored prayer in public schools. In this case, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union argued the Virginia law is similar to an Alabama statute struck down by the high court in 1985.
___However, attorneys for the state of Virginia and several religious organizations said the law does not require students to pray.
___Holly Hollman, general counsel for the Washington-based Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, expressed cautious agreement with the court's decision.
___"Unlike the Alabama statute, ... the Virginia moment of silence law has a stated secular purpose--to encourage introspection and discourage a perceived increase in violence in schools," Hollman said. "Moreover, Virginia teachers were instructed that the statute not be used to coerce students to engage in prayer or any other permitted activity."
___However, Hollman noted that in the delicate task of passing and implementing moment-of-silence laws, the government must remain neutral toward religion. "Neutrality does not allow prayer to be treated as a favored activity," she said.
___Religious Right groups that support school prayer also endorsed the court's decision.
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