Conservative Groups Want A Piece of Oral Argument On National Day of Prayer

In April, the U.S. Justice Department filed an appeal with the 7th Circuit in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Obama, a case in which the district court held that the statute creating a National Day of Prayer violates the Establishment Clause. (See prior posting.) Now, however, the Family Research Council and the Liberty Institute which filed an amicus brief on behalf of a number of conservative organization yesterday announced that they have also filed a motion for leave to participate in oral argument. The groups contend that the Justice Department's brief does not go far enough in defending the statute. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said:

The President's attorneys failed to cite any of the key cases that would require immediate dismissal of this lawsuit because the plaintiffs lack standing to bring it. FRC plans to mount a robust defense of this important national event that a liberal judge has attempted to scrub from the public square.