The politics of prayer.

• Author: Proffer, Lanny
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS - Prayers at town board meetings

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of prayers at the opening of town board meetings. The decision reaffirmed the Court's 1983 Marsh v. Chambers ruling that opening prayers at the Nebraska Legislature's sessions did not violate the First Amendment prohibition against establishment of religion. The Town of Greece ruling, a contentious 5-4 vote along conservative-liberal lines, also established that prayers can be primarily sectarian--associated with one particular religion-- rather than nonsectarian, or unaffiliated with a single religion.

Board meetings for the Town of Greece, N.Y., always began with a prayer, most commonly led by a Christian minister using Christian imagery. Two individuals who often had business before the board were offended by the "sectarian" nature of the opening prayers. They claimed all citizens should have the right to participate in local government without having to take part in sectarian prayers. They sued the town, arguing that the dominance of Christian prayers had a coercive effect on nonbelievers and made them feel pressured to appear as if they were praying for fear that their board requests would be denied if they didn't.

They also argued that their case was different and more invasive than the 1993 Nebraska case, Marsh v. Chambers, because the ministers offering the prayers at the town meetings addressed them directly to the audience rather than to the legislators, as was the practice in Nebraska.

A majority of the Supreme Court disagreed. They pointed to the strong historical link between legislative prayers and the First Amendment. Almost simultaneously, the First Congress appropriated money to pay House and Senate chaplains and approved the freedom of religion language of the First Amendment.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, observed government is...