Unconstitutional School Prayer Persists, and Some Support It

An AP story last week shows that translating U.S. Supreme Court precedent into practice is sometimes difficult. Despite the Supreme Court's 1963 decision in Abington School District v. Schempp that prohibited the practice, Mineral Ridge High School in northeastern Ohio has continued through the years to recite the Lords Prayer over the public address system in the morning before the Pledge of Allegiance and announcements. Only when the Warren Tribune Chronicle questioned the practice earlier this month did the school finally stop the practice. Some defend the school's ignoring of precedent. Commenting to Agape Press on Friday, Mat Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, said that while the Supreme Court has found classroom recitation of the Lords Prayer to be an Establishment Clause violation, "that's clearly not the intent or purpose of the Constitution itself."