Football Game Prayers Persist In A Few Alabama High Schools

The Birmingham, Alabama News reports today that despite the U.S. Supreme Court's 2000 decision in Santa Fe Indepen. School Dist. v. Doe, in some parts of Alabama public schools allow students or ministers to pray over stadium public address systems before high school football games. ACLU of Alabama attorney Robert Varley says, "It's difficult for someone to come forward and complain about that kind of thing. They would be ostracized by the community. " After a 1997 federal court ruling against such prayer was issued by an Alabama federal district court, most schools in the state replaced pre-game prayers with moments of silence. However a few Alabama high schools have continued prayers over the public address system and almost dare anyone to try to stop them,