Yesterday's North Augusta Star reported that U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) has introduced a bill in Congress that, if enacted, would protect elected and appointed officials who want to pray in public. The Public Prayer Protection Act of 2005 (HR 4364) contains findings that public prayer by government officials is not an Establishment Clause violation. The bill removes all federal court jurisdiction over Establishment Clause challenges to prayers by public officials. Finally the bill provides that federal court decisions on public prayer would not be binding precedent on state courts. Mike Cubelo, president of the Piedmont chapter of the ACLU of South Carolina, said he expects the legislation to be fiercely challenged and ultimately fail.
The bill is similar to another pending piece of federal legislation, the Constitution Restoration Act (HR 1070 and S 520) . Today World Net Daily reports that earlier this month, during a special session of the Louisiana Legislature called to deal with Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana lawmakers passed a Resolution urging Congress to adopt the Constitution Restoration Act.
