Sectarian Prayers Still Used In Some California Public Meetings

In 2002, in Rubin v. City of Burbank, a California appellate court struck down as unconstitutional sectarian prayer at city council meetings. However a recent investigation by the North County Times has discovered that several governmental bodies are still opening their sessions with prayers that specifically refer to Jesus. Meetings of the Temecula and Murrieta city councils and the Menifee Union and Perris Union High School governing boards are often begun with sectarian invocations. Paloma Valley High School teacher Gail Simpson said, "I have a hard time as a teacher explaining to my government students why it's not a violation of (the separation of) church and state. All I say to them (students) is, 'Yes, you're right, it does seem to violate the separation of church and state, but they're the school board and they can do what they want to do'."