High School Coach Wins Right To Join His Team's Prayers

In Newark, New Jersey today, East Brunswick High School football coach Marcus Borden won his federal civil rights suit in which he claimed the right to pray along with his team's players. The court rejected the high school's contention that the Establishment Clause was violated when coach Borden would silently bow his head and "take a knee'' while his players engaged in student-initiated, student-led, nonsectarian pre-game prayer. The Central Jersey Home News Tribune, reporting on the decision, quoted Borden's attorney, Ronald J. Riccio, who said that the decision "reaffirms that government can't be hostile to religion." The lawsuit was filed last November. (See prior posting.)