Supreme Court takes up major prayer case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a prayer case that could have a major impact on the intersection between church and state and finally bring clarity to what is constitutionally allowed -- such as the mention of "Jesus" -- in prayers at government meetings.

At issue is an open policy in the town of Greece, N.Y., to allow a person from the community to pray before the monthly board meetings. All clergy of all faiths in the community who wanted to pray were welcome to do so, and their names were placed on a list. Each month, the next person on the list was invited. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 2012 ruled that the prayers amounted to an unconstitutional government establishment of religion because most of the prayers were explicitly Christian.

The Second Circuit made clear that praying at the meetings was allowed as long as there was more balance. The town's policy, the court ruled, "had the effect of affiliating the town with Christianity." In one portion of the ruling, the Second Circuit frowned on the fact that that two-thirds of the prayers during one stretch contained references to "Jesus Christ," "Jesus," "Your Son" or the "Holy Spirit."  Read more

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