In Prayer Case, the Supreme Court Kept History in Mind

Beginning of article

THIRTY years ago the Supreme Court said that, under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, it is not the proper business of government either to compose prayers or to sponsor prayers for American children to recite.

That principle was reaffirmed and extended by the court June 24 when it ruled, in Lee v. Weisman, that a rabbi's invocation and benediction at a public junior-high school graduation ceremony also violated the First Amendment. "The government involvement with religious activity in this case is pervasive, to the point of creating a state-sponsored and state-directed religious exercise in a public school," said Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for …