Click here to view full article at bossierpress.com
This joint letter is being submitted in response to questions that have been raised by members of the Louisiana Legislature concerning the legality and feasibility of (Senate Bill 512 of the 2018 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature). We write today to briefly explain why we believe Senate Bill 512 would not pass court muster and could actually be counterproductive to the cause of religious liberty.
By way of introduction, the undersigned individuals and legal organizations are widely recognized as leading defenders of religious freedom in American and beyond, in the courts and in the court of public opinion. For many years, we have been directly involved in the landmark religious liberty cases decided by the U.S. Supreme court and lower courts, and we are regularly called upon to assist in drafting, advising and defending religious legislation advanced by the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, and international human rights organizations.
In the complex and widely misunderstood area of the law pertaining to religious expression in public schools, legislation is sometimes proposed on a state and local level that might seem helpful at first glance, but in actuality could be quite harmful to the cause if passed. In our view, SB512 is one of those measures.
This bill proposes an amendment to Louisiana’s existing statute pertaining to student-initiated prayer to hereafter allowed school employees to participate in student prayers during the school day, so long as the parents or guardians of each student have provided a written consent. Because this proposal directly contradicts U.S. Supreme Court and lower court precedent on the issue, we submit there is zero chance SB512 would survive an inevitable court challenge.
While many Americans disagree with the courts’ conclusion, the question of whether school officials may lead or participate with students in prayer has been concretely settled for decades. In fact, both the Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (covering Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) have ruled repeatedly and decisively that while truly student-led, student-initiated prayer is fully protected by the First Amendment, no public school, or school official while on duty, is allowed even […]