UK Supreme Court Faults Type of Religious Education Offered by Northern Ireland Primary School

The United Kingdom Supreme Court yesterday in In the matter of an application by JR87 and another for Judicial Review, (UK SC, Nov. 19, 2025), held that the Christian religious education and collective worship as practiced in a Northern Ireland primary school violates Article 2 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights read in connection with Article 9 of the Convention.  Article 2 reads:

No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.

According to the court:

20.  JR87’s parents are not Christians and do not profess any other religious beliefs. They are “broadly speaking” humanist in their outlook.  

21. ... They do not wish her to be raised as a Christian. They object to her being taught at the School to assume that Christianity is an absolute truth. Their concerns as to religious education and collective worship at the School are heightened given that she is being taught at an age prior to the development of her critical faculties. Rather, JR87’s parents wish to raise her to be caring, ethical, and respectful towards all people, whatever their religious beliefs or otherwise....

32... They were concerned that by the time JR87 had commenced P2 she had absorbed and adopted a religious (specifically Christian) worldview which was not consistent with their own views and beliefs. By way of illustration G [the girl's father] states that, in the absence of any religious exposure at home, his daughter now believes that God made the world, and she repeats and practices a prayer/grace that she was taught at school at snack-time. His concern is that his daughter is learning Christianity and not learning “about” Christianity in a school context that effectively assumes its absolute truth and which encourages her to do the same. 

The court held that the parents' right to withdraw their child from religious education and collective worship is not a sufficient remedy because it risks stigmatizing the child and the parents and exposing the parents' non-religious beliefs to the school and the wider school community.

The Court also issued a press summary of the decision.

Cert. Denied in Football Pre-Game Public Prayer Controversy

Today the U.S. Supreme Court denied review in Cambridge Christian School, Inc. v. Florida High School Athletic Association, (Docket No. 24-1261, certiorari denied 11/17/2025). (Order List.). In the case, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected free speech and free exercise claims by a Christian school that was refused the use of a stadium's public address system for a pre-game prayer at the FHSAA state championship football game in which it was playing. The court held that pre-game PA announcements at state championship games are government speech and government control of its own speech does not violate rights of private individuals. (See prior posting.)

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Yaroslav Kotylko, Alternative (Non-Military) Service In Taiwan: Legal Regulation and Comparative Analysis With The Ukrainian Experience, (29 Public Administration and Regional Development 661-693 (2025)).
• Nicholas Aroney, Religion and State Across the Public-Private Divide: A Conceptual Extension of the Loop Model (October 10, 2025).
• William Bunting, Fulfilling America's Unfinished Promise of Individual Liberty: A Second Bill of Rights, (Stetson University College of Law Research Paper Forthcoming).
• Manish Oza, Justiciability in Private Law: Religion and Politics, (Osgoode Hall Law Journal, (forthcoming)).
• Yehia Mekawi, Representing Islam, Recognising Islam: A Single-Case Study of the Grande Mosquée de Bruxelles, (Journal of Muslims in Europe, volume 14, issue 3, 2025).
• Konrad Duden, Gender Self-Determination and Cross-Border Mobility -Recognition of a Changed Gender Entry and Free Movement within the EU, (October 31, 2025).
• Kate Redburn, Skrmetti Beyond Scrutiny, (139 Harv. L. Rev. 167 (2025)).
• Zubair Abbasi, Sacred Texts and Profane Realities: Islamic Criminal Laws (Ḥudūd) and Children's Rights in Pakistan (June 01, 2025).
• Deborah Tuerkheimer, Threats to Contraception, (November 07, 2025).
• Emmanuel Ladji Inga, Safeguarding Muslim Women's Religious Rights Trough State Liability? An Amicus Curia Brief, (June 30, 2025).

From SmartCILP:

• Joshua Segev, Judges in Their Own Cases: Biblical Kings and Supreme Court Justices, 39 Touro Law Review 1147-1218 (2024).
• Christopher C. Spinosa, Jr., Breaching the Walls of the Inviolable Citadel: The Supreme Court's Treatment of the Lemon Test and Its Progeny, 39 Touro Law Review 1299-1351 (2024).
• Keren Kendil, School Choice & Religious Discrimination: A Story of the Illusory "Wall of Separation," Sour "Lemon Tests," and Overgrown "Baby Blaines", 39 Touro Law Review 1219-1250 (2024).
• Brian Muff, Livin' on a Legislative Prayer: How Prayer at a School Board Meeting Survives under an Exception to the Establishment Clause, 39 Touro Law Review 1251-1297 (2024).

School May Bar Teacher from Hanging Crucifix on Classroom Wall

In Arroyo-Castro v. Gasper, (D CT, Nov. 3, 2025), a Connecticut federal district court in a 54-page opinion rejected claims of a public middle-school teacher that her free speech and free exercise rights were violated when she was disciplined for hanging a crucifix on a classroom wall near her desk.  The court said in part:

... Ms. Castro acted pursuant to her job duties as a teacher when she decorated the walls of her classroom with items the students would see during instructional time. The question is whether Ms. Castro was doing otherwise when she hung items she calls “personal expressive items” on the wall, including the crucifix. Ms. Castro specifically states that posting such items makes the classroom environment more conducive to learning because the items humanize the teacher to their students. In that way, therefore, Ms. Castro was acting pursuant to her official duties as a teacher by displaying the items....

Accepting Ms. Castro’s argument that teachers have a First Amendment free speech right to post “personal expressive items” related to matters of public concern on classroom walls—where they are visible to students during instructional time—would mean the District could not control the messages conveyed to students while the students are required to be present in the classroom for learning. Instead, with respect to each such item a teacher posted on the classroom wall, the District would need to engage in a Pickering balancing analysis and could prohibit only those items that are sufficiently disruptive.  

... I conclude that Ms. Castro is unlikely to prevail on her claim that her display of the crucifix on the wall of the classroom constitutes speech as a private citizen rather than pursuant to her job duties as a teacher. Therefore, I conclude she is not likely to prevail on her free speech claim....

Ms. Castro says that she “sincerely believes that her religion compels her to display her crucifix, not hide it under her desktop” and “[s]tifling her religious expression through concealment of the crucifix ‘would be an affront to [her] faith....  

I have already concluded that the crucifix display on the classroom wall was pursuant to Ms. Castro’s official duties and is therefore speech attributed to the District. The speech is thus, for constitutional purposes, the government’s own speech....

Defendants argue that allowing the crucifix to remain on the classroom wall would constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause or, at the very least, expose the District to a risk of liability for such a violation....

Based on the existing record, I conclude that Ms. Castro is unlikely to show that Defendants did anything other than make “a reasonable, good faith judgment” that permitting Ms. Castro to hang the crucifix on the classroom wall during instructional time “runs a substantial risk of incurring a violation of the Establishment Clause.... I agree with Defendants, therefore, that a preliminary injunction should not issue....

As noted, under binding Second Circuit cases, the District must be afforded some leeway in balancing the free exercise rights of its employees and the risk of an Establishment Clause violation.... Unlike the coach’s prayer in Kennedy, the crucifix display is a religious message on the classroom wall broadcast to a “captive audience” of students required to be in the classroom. ...

First Liberty Institute issued a press release announcing the decision.

[Thanks to Eugene Volokh via Religionlaw for the lead.] 

Texas AG Urges Introducing the Lord's Prayer in Classrooms

As previously reported, in May 2025 the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 11. The bill took effect on September 1. The new law creates an elaborate structure that school districts may adopt to provide for a daily period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text in each school, with parental consent for students to participate. On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a press release recommending that schools adopt a policy that calls for recitation of the Lord's Prayer.  The press release said in part:

“In Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Twisted, radical liberals want to erase Truth, dismantle the solid foundation that America’s success and strength were built upon, and erode the moral fabric of our society. Our nation was founded on the rock of Biblical Truth, and I will not stand by while the far-left attempts to push our country into the sinking sand.”...

... [Senate Bill 11] directs the Office of the Attorney General to defend any school district or charter school that adopts such a policy. In addition, the Attorney General is empowered to recommend best practices for implementation.

For Texas students considering how to best utilize this time, Attorney General Paxton encourages children to begin with the Lord’s Prayer, as taught by Jesus Christ.

The press release then sets out the text of the Lord's Prayer as it appears in the King James Version of Matthew 6:9-13.  Texas Tribune reports on Paxton's action. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

School Officials Lack Standing To Sue Advocacy Group For Interfering With Their Duties

In Oklahoma State Department of Education v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, (ED OK, Aug. 13, 2025), Oklahoma education officials, in an interesting twist, sued to enjoin the advocacy organization Freedom From Religion Foundation from interfering with Plaintiffs’ statutory authority to govern Oklahoma’s public schools. FFRF had sent letters complaining about Bible reading and prayer in classrooms in one district and appointment of a football team chaplain in another. The court held that Plaintiffs lack standing to bring the suit, saying in part:

... [T]he Complaint does not explain how these letters have interfered with day-to-day operations in any real way.

Plaintiffs’ Complaint also vaguely alludes that Plaintiffs’ injury is the “chilling effect” caused by Defendant’s letters....

... [T]he Complaint does not allege that it has stopped executing its duties or ceased administration of Oklahoma’s public schools because of Defendant’s letters.2  Nor does the Complaint allege that the schools have ceased any policies or practices because of Defendant’s letters. 

For these reasons, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to show an injury in fact.

[Thanks to Eugene Volokh via Religionlaw for the lead.]

6th Circuit: Ministerial Exception Requires Dismissal of Employment Discrimination Suit by Christian School's Principal

In Pulsifer v. Westshore Christian Academy, (6th Cir., July 9, 2025), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the ministerial exception doctrine required dismissal of an employment discrimination suit brought by the Dean of Students/ Assistant Principal of a Christian elementary school in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. The court said in part:

No one disputes that the Academy is the type of religious entity that can avail itself of the exception.... The Academy sees its role in inculcating the Christian faith as essential to its students’ salvation, and its “mission of Christian ministry and teaching” marks the school with “clear [and] obvious religious characteristics.”...

The question, then, is whether Pulsifer was the type of employee covered by the exception.  We hold that he was.  Pulsifer played an important role in furthering the school’s mission to provide for the religious education and formation of students.  Judicial review of the way in which the Academy chooses who should fill that type of role “would undermine the independence of religious institutions in a way that the First Amendment does not tolerate.”,,,

... Pulsifer played a role in teaching the faith.  He was tasked with leading the staff in religious devotions each morning and also led devotions at each meeting of the school’s board.  Pulsifer also played an important role in conducting communal prayer with staff and board members....  And by implementing and leading two religious youth programs, he played a public-facing “role in conveying” the school’s religious “message,”,,,  

... Put simply, an employee can fall within the ministerial exception even when “[m]ost” of their “work [is] secular in nature,” ...  so long as the employee, like Pulsifer, also performs the types of religious duties we outline above.  Accordingly, the district court properly granted the Academy’s motion for summary judgment.

Supreme Court Review Sought In High School Football Game Prayer Dispute

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S.Supreme Court last week in Cambridge Christian School, Inc. v. Florida High School Athletic Association, Inc., (Sup. Ct., cert. filed 6/6/2025).In th e case, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected free speech and free exercise claims by a Christian school that was refused the use of a stadium's public address system for a pre-game prayer at the FHSAA state championship football game in which it was playing. (See prior posting).

Texas Passes 3 Bills Promoting Religion in Public Schools

In addition to the much-publicized Ten Commandments bill (see prior posting), the Texas legislature this week gave final passage to three other bills relating to religion in public schools:

S.B. 11 (full text) (legislative history) creates an elaborate structure that school districts may adopt to provide for a daily period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text in each school. The daily ceremony is to be open to both students and employees but must be outside the hearing of those who are not participants. Also, it may not be a substitute for instructional time. To participate, a student's parent must sign a consent form that includes a waiver of a right to bring an Establishment Clause claim to challenge the prayer/ Bible reading policy. For an employee to participate in the daily sessions, they must sign a similar consent and waiver. Districts may not broadcast the prayer or Bible reading over the school's public address system.

SB 965 (full text) (legislative history) provides:

The right of an employee of a school district ... to engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty may not be infringed on by the district or school or another state governmental entity, unless the infringement is: (1) necessary to further a compelling state interest; and (2) narrowly tailored using the least restrictive means to achieve that compelling state interest.

SB 1049 (full text) (legislative history) requires all public schools to adopt policies that provide for students, at their parents' request, to attend for 1 to 5 hours per week off-premises released time programs operated by private entities and which offer religious instruction. Under the mandated policy, students remain responsible for any schoolwork issued during the student's absence.

President Trump Issues Executive Order Creating a Religious Liberty Commission

Yesterday, President Trump issued an Executive Order (full text) establishing a Religious Liberty Commission. According to the Executive Order:

The Commission shall advise the White House Faith Office and the Domestic Policy Council on religious liberty policies of the United States.  Specific activities of the Commission shall include, to the extent permitted by law, recommending steps to secure domestic religious liberty by executive or legislative actions as well as identifying opportunities for the White House Faith Office to partner with the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to further the cause of religious liberty around the world.

The Executive Order also calls for the President to appoint 3 Advisory Boards to advise members of the Commission-- an advisory board of religious leaders, an advisory board of lay leaders, and an advisory board of legal experts. The White House also issued a Fact Sheet (full text) summarizing the Commission's role, saying in part:

The Commission is tasked with producing a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, strategies to increase awareness of and celebrate America’s peaceful religious pluralism, current threats to religious liberty, and strategies to preserve and enhance protections for future generations.

Key focus areas include parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, attacks on houses of worship, free speech for religious entities, and institutional autonomy....

The Executive Order was signed at a White House National Day of Prayer Event (video of event).

Chairman of the Commission is Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Vice-Chair is Dr Ben Carson.  Other members of the Commission as announced in a press release by Lt. Gov. Patrick are:  Ryan Anderson, Bishop Robert Barron, Carrie Boller, Cardinal Timothy Dolan (Archbishop of New York), Rev. Franklin Graham, Allyson Ho, Dr. Phil McGraw, Eric Metaxas, Kelly Shackelford, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and Pastor Paula White. In addition, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Scott Turner (Secretary of Housing and Urban Development), and Vince Haley (Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy) are ex officio members of the Commission.

Catholic News Agency reports on the creation of the Commission.

UPDATE: President Trump also issued a National Day of Prayer Proclamation, declaring May 1 as a National Day of Prayer.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• R. Shawn Gunnarson, James Cleith Phillips & Christopher Bates, Religions Employment and the Tensions Between Liberty and Equality, (Brigham Young University (accepted forthcoming)).
•  Joel Alicea, Constitutional Theory at a Catholic University, (75 Cath. U. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2025)).
• Edward L. Rubin, The Biblical Concept of Mercy as a Pragmatic Decision Protocol, (Vanderbilt Law Research Paper No. 25-07 (2025).
• Irene-Marie Esser, Iain MacNeil & Catriona Cannon, The Legal Dimension of 'Corporate Purpose': A Study of Companies with a Religious Influence, (forthcoming: European Business Law Review).
• L. Ali Khan, The Ministry of Jesus: A Comparative Study of the Qur'an and New Testament, (March 30, 2025).
• Jay Wexler, The Endorsement Test’s Early Years, 1983-1985: Notes from the O’Connor Files, (Boston Univ. School of Law Research Paper No. 25-7 (2025)).
• Jill Wieber Lens, Stillbirth & the Law (Book Introduction), (March 25, 2025).
• B. Sullivan, The Myth of Legal Neutrality and Its Role in Undermining Abortion Rights in The United States, (McGill Undergraduate Law Review No. 10 (2025)).
• Mark David Hall, Ten Commandments in the Public Square and Public Schools, (William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal (forthcoming)).

From SSRN (Non-U.S. Law):

• Thomas Latendresse, Evaluating the Constitutionality of Bill 21 Amid Restricted Judicial Review, (McGill Undergraduate Law Review No. 10 (2025)).
• L. Ali Khan, Rigveda as a Proto-Islamic Scripture of the Indus Valley, (March 26, 2025). 
• Soliu Dagbo Abdulllahi, An Overview of Legal and Regulatory Framework for Islamic Finance in Nigeria, (March 18, 2025).
• Ashlynn Kendzior,  Remaining Barriers to Abortion Access in Post-Repeal Ireland, (15 Creighton Int'l. & Compar, L. J. (forthcoming 2025).

From SmartCILP:

• Nicole V. Godfrey, Group Prayer in Federal Prison, 103 Nebraska Law Review 19-44 (2024).
• Michael Allan Wolf, "Zoning" Matters: RLUIPA and the New Normal of Religious Discrimination, 61 San Diego Law Review 343-406 (2024).

Oklahoma Sues FFRF For Sending Demand Letters Objecting to Religious Activities in Schools

In a rather unusual lawsuit, the state of Oklahoma has filed suit in federal district court against the Freedom from Religion Foundation seeking an injunction to prevent it from continuing to send demand letters objecting to religious activities in Oklahoma's public schools. The complaint (full text) in State of Oklahoma ex rel Oklahoma State Department of Education v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, (ED OK, filed 3/31/2025), alleges in part:

... [W]hen Achille Public Schools (“APS”) administrators exercised their statutorily required duties to allow students to participate in voluntary prayer, the Foundation for Freedom from Religion (“FFRF”) threatened the district with demands that APS administration must forbid its students from exercising their statutory and constitutional rights or face legal consequences. Furthermore, despite the incontrovertible fact that no student was forced to participate in prayer or any other religious activities, the FFRF insisted that “[t]he district must cease permitting teachers to give students bible lessons and it must ensure its schools refrain from coercing student to observe and participate in school-sponsored prayer.”...

Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes delegates “the responsibility of determining the policies and directing the administration and supervision of the public school system of the state” to the OSDE and the State Superintendent of Public Instructions.... FFRF has interfered with and will continue to interfere with OSDE and Superintendent Walters’s statutory authority to govern Oklahoma’s public schools. Declaratory and injunctive relief is both necessary and proper to ensure that OSDE and Superintendent can faithfully execute their duties, as well as protect the constitutional rights of Oklahoma’s public school students....

Despite having no standing whatsoever to do so, FFRF continuously threatens Oklahoma Public Schools with demand letters under the guise speaking on behalf of anonymous “concerned parents” who have contacted them. Notably, FFRF’s concern for how Oklahoma chooses to govern its own state is not limited to how its elected officials manage its schools. FFRF has “warned” the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to “discontinue prayers” that opened its regular monthly meetings; has demanded that state police and fire departments not be permitted to fundraise for the Salvation Army; and has generally interfered any time any duly elected state official suggests any proposition that is even remotely “religious.”

FFRF issued a press release responding to the lawsuit.

New Study of U.S. Religious Landscape Released

This week, the Pew Research Center released the findings from its 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, a survey of 36,908 U.S. adults. (Full text). (Web version). The 392-page report covers data on the demographics and viewpoints of various Christian and non-Christian religious denominations in the U.S. Of particular interest to readers of Religion Clause may be the Report's section on Religion and Public Life which surveys attitudes on three questions. It reports in part:

Americans are about evenly divided on whether the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation, with 47% either favoring or strongly favoring the idea and 50% either opposing or strongly opposing it.

Among religious groups, this idea is most widely supported by evangelical Protestants, 78% of whom say that they favor or strongly favor the federal government declaring the U.S. a Christian nation....

Interestingly, 16% of respondents who identify with non-Christian religions and 19% of religiously unaffiliated favor this.

The new Religious Landscape Study finds that about half of Americans, or a little more, support allowing teacher-led prayer in public schools, whether that be praying to Jesus explicitly (52%) or, alternatively, praying to God without mentioning any specific religion (57%). Seven-in-ten U.S. Christian adults say they favor permitting teacher-led prayers to Jesus in public schools and 73% say they favor teacher-led prayers to God that don’t mention any specific religion.

Compared with Christians, far lower shares of religiously unaffiliated Americans (28%) and adults who affiliate with other, non-Christian religions (39%) say they favor public school teachers leading classes in prayers that refer to God without mentioning any specific religion. There is even less support among non-Christian groups for allowing public school teachers to lead classes in prayers to Jesus....

 About half of Americans (53%) favor or strongly favor allowing cities and towns to display religious symbols on public property. Support for this stance is particularly strong among Christians, including 80% of evangelical Protestants and 73% of Latter-day Saints who favor or strongly favor allowing public displays of religious symbols.

Much lower shares of Buddhists (39%), Muslims (35%), Hindus (31%) and Jews (25%) say they favor allowing religious displays on public property....

Recent Articles of Interest

 From SSRN:

• Evangelos Venizelos, Religious Freedom for Muslims: A Challenge to the Historical Foundations and Resilience of European Constitutionalism, (June 15, 2023).
• Gader Wren, A Continued Sign of the Court’s Unwillingness to Overrule Smith, 7 Nev. L.J. Forum (2023).
• Gader Wren, The Establishment Clause: No Longer a Lemon, (100 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. Online 1 (2023)).
• Gader Wren, Dobbs: A Powerful Opinion with Discrete Weaknesses, (Idaho Law Review Spotlight, Vol. 2 (2023), Iss. 1, Art. 2).
• Kate Redburn, The Equal Right to Exclude: Religious Speech and the Road to 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, (December 18, 2023).
• Natasha Bakht & Lynda Margaret Collins, Notwithstanding the Notwithstanding Clause: A Case for Constitutional Guardrails on Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, (November 21, 2024).
• Carl H. Esbeck, Church Autonomy, Textualism, and Originalism: SCOTUS's Use of History to Give Definition to Church Autonomy Doctrine, (108 Marquette Law Review (forthcoming 2025)).
• Mark Storslee, History and the School Prayer Cases, (110 Va. L. Rev. 1619 (2024)).
• John Witte, Table Talks on Law & Religion, Canopy Forum, 2024 (forthcoming).
• John Witte, “Foreword,” to Walters-Sleyon, The Rush for Black Diamonds, (forthcoming).
• Jeffrey A. Van Detta, Heresies, Heretics, and Hermeneutics: The Battle of Textualism Against Pragmatism-And Itself-On the Roberts Court, (Belmont University College of Law Research Paper No. 2024-15).

From SSRN (Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Islamic Law):

• Amit Kumar Ghosh, Tantric Union of Male and Female in Vajrayana, (November 25, 2024).
• Haseeb Fatima Saikhu, Inheritance Rights of Orphaned Grandchildren under Section 4 of Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961 and its Alternative Solutions, (Law and Policy Review, Volume 3, No. 2, Pp.21–42 (2024).
• Christopher Hampson, The Spirit of Jubilee, (University of Florida Levin College of Law Research Paper Forthcoming).
• John Witte, The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law, (Canopy Forum, 2024).
• Johari, et. al., The Role of Temporary Waqf in Improving the Social Welfare of the Muslim Community (November 26, 2024).
• Ihsan, Hidayatul Ihsan, et. al., Factors Affecting the Motivation of Prospective Waqifs to Endow Insurance in Indonesia, (International Journal of Scientific and Management Research, volume 07, issue 11, 2024).
• Hidayatul Ihsan, Firman Surya, Eliyanora & Nurul Hafizah, A Digital Transformation in Waqf Management: Leveraging Microsoft Access for Financial Accountability, (International Journal of Scientific and Management Research, volume 07, issue 11, 2024).

President Jimmy Carter's Views on Religion

Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United Staes, passed away on Sunday at the age of 100. The White House issued a Proclamation from President Biden formally announcing Carter's death. Religion played an extremely important role in Carter's life. In October 1976, just a month before the election in which he narrowly defeated Gerald Ford, Carter gave a lengthy interview (full text) with leaders of "National Religious Broadcasters" and "World Religious News" that set out his personal views on religion as well as on separation of church and state. Here are a few excerpts:

Q. Mr. Carter, ... can you tell us what Jesus Christ means to you, and to what extent you have dedicated your life to Him?

Governor Carter. The most important thing in my life is Jesus Christ....

I had my deepest and most personal turning to Christ about 10 years ago. 1966 or 1967, when I realized that in spite of the achievement within my church circle, as chairman of the board of deacons, superintendent of the Sunday School, and so forth, that there was an absence of a deep, constant personal relationship with Christ I went to some other states to witness among those who had no church affiliation. During the trips, I felt very personally present to the Holy Spirit and began to be able to testify for the first time with complete sincerity about what Christ meant to me. I found it easy to pray without a special extra effort; it became part of my consciousness, and I felt a sense of peace and security that I had never felt before....

Q. How does your Christian commitment affect political decisions you have made and will make in the future?

Governor Carter. As a Baptist I believe very strongly in the principle of separation of church and state....

As far as my decisions as a political leader, they are affected very heavily by my Christian beliefs. I spent more time on my knees as governor of Georgia than I had spent all the rest of my life put together because I felt the responsibility of many other people's lives. I cling to the principles of the Judeo-Christian ethic. Honesty, integrity, compassion, love, hope, charity, humility are integral parts of any person's life, no matter what his position in life may be. But when someone is elected and trusted by others to help determine one's own life quality, it puts an additional responsibility on the pastor or the schoolteacher or someone who has a public life. So, the Christian or the religious commitment is one that's especially useful tome....

... Not too long ago, I taught a Sunday school lesson about how Paul and Peter reacted to the laws or government of that day. Their admonition was to obey the law and to obey the chosen rulers.

If there was a violation of God's laws by the civil law, to obey God's law is to be willing to accept the punishment administered by the civil law and to try to work to make sure the civil law was compatible with God's law.

Q. In the past, much has been discussed concerning prayer and Bible reading in public schools. In the event you become the President of the United States, what proposals or plans would you have concerning this particular area?

Governor Carter. I don't favor the state, through the public schools, requiring a certain kind of prayer or worship. I believe that ought to be a decision made by the individual student. There ought not to be any prohibition against any self-initiated worship. But the requirement of conformity of worship is something that is contrary to my own beliefs....

Oklahoma Education Department Creates Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism

In a November 12 press release, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced the creation of the Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism at the State Department of Education, saying in part:

[The Office] will serve to promote religious liberty and patriotism in Oklahoma and protect parents, teachers, and students’ abilities to practice their religion freely in all aspects. The office will also oversee the investigation of abuses to individual religious freedom or displays of patriotism. Guidance to schools will be issued in the coming days on steps to be taken to ensure the right to pray in schools is safeguarded....

The new office will be charged with supporting teachers and students when their constitutional rights are threatened by well-funded, out of state groups as happened in Skiatook last year when a school was bullied into removing Bible quotes from a classroom....

The newly established Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism is in line with one of President Trump’s top education priorities, “Freedom to Pray.”...

KOKH News has more on Walters' promotion of school prayer. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

11th Circuit: Barring Use of PA System for Pre-Game Prayers Does Not Violate 1st Amendment

 In Cambridge Christian School, Inc. v. Florida High School Athletic Association, Inc., (11th Cir., Sept. 3, 2024), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected free speech and free exercise claims by a Christian school that was refused the use of a stadium's public address system for a pre-game prayer at the FHSAA state championship football game in which it was playing. The court held that pre-game PA announcements at state championship games are government speech. It also concluded that government control of its own expression does not violate the free exercise rights of private individuals.

Florida Phoenix reports on the decision.

City-Sponsored Prayer Vigil Violated Establishment Clause

In Rojas v. City of Ocala, (MD FL, June 26, 2024), a Florida federal district court held that a prayer vigil in the town square organized by the police department violated the Establishment Clause. The 2014 vigil was planned in order to encourage witnesses to a shooting spree to come forward. The court in a previous decision found that the vigil violated the Establishment Clause, but the 9th Circuit remanded the case after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 repudiated the Lemon test and adopted a new test for determining when there has been an Establishment Clause violation. (See prior posting.) Reflecting on the time that had passed since the vigil, the court said:

In the meantime, the Chief of Police, Greg Graham, passed away; the Mayor of Ocala at the time left office; and the Prayer Vigil (which occurred in 2014) has not been repeated. Thus, the Court inquired whether it would make sense to call it a day on this timeworn litigation. But the parties, both represented by lawyers who specialize in First Amendment religion cases, insist on going forward. And, as the Court previously awarded nominal damages, the case is not moot....  So on we go.

Reaching the conclusion that under the Supreme Court's new Establishment Clause test set out in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District there was still an Establishment Clause violation, the court said in part:

Based on the undisputed facts, the City’s involvement in conceiving, organizing, and implementing the Prayer Vigil is government sponsorship of a religious event...

... [T]he City’s support of the Prayer Vigil favored a religious viewpoint. While the Prayer Vigil was geared towards Christianity, there is some evidence that it was not limited to any one faith.... But that thin layer of neutrality is not enough to avoid an Establishment Clause violation....

Similarly, Chief Graham’s offer to connect an objector, Paul Tjaden, with organizers... is not comparable to neutrality....  Trying to achieve neutrality towards religion by inviting an atheist to speak at an event whose only purpose is prayer fails to treat the secular viewpoint with the same level of respect being provided to religious prayer.

As Kennedy commands, the Court bases its decision on a “historically sensitive understanding of the Establishment Clause”....

British Court Upholds School's Ban on Student Prayer

In The King (On the application of TTT) v. Michaela Community Schools Trust, (High Ct., Kings Bench, April 16, 2024), a British trial court in an 83-page opinion rejected a Muslim student's challenge to a secular secondary school's Prayer Ritual Policy (PRP) that prevented the student from using part of her lunch break to perform her Duhr prayer. The policy was adopted by the high-performing school, in which half of the students were Muslim, after prayer by some students led to divisions within the student body and to threatening social media posts.

The court said in part:

It seems to me that this is a case ... where the Claimant at the very least impliedly accepted, when she enrolled at the School, that she would be subject to restrictions on her ability to manifest her religion. She knew that the School is secular and her own evidence is that her mother wished her to go there because it was known to be strict....

... [W]hilst accepting that her belief is that she should perform Duhr during the relevant 25 minutes of the lunch break in the winter months, and that this belief falls within Article 9 [of the European Convention on Human Rights], the evidence indicates that the effect of the PRP is that Qada is available to mitigate the failure to pray within the allotted window....

... [B]alancing the adverse effects of the PRP on the rights of Muslim pupils at the School with the aims of the PRP and the extent to which it is likely to achieve those aims, I have concluded that the latter outweighs the former and that the PRP is proportionate....

The court also rejected the claim that the prayer policy violated Britain's Equality Act. The court also issued a press release summarizing the decision. The Guardian reports on the decision. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Coach Kennedy Resigns After One Post-Game Prayer

Last year, in a widely publicized Supreme Court decision, Bremerton, Washington high school football coach Joe Kennedy won the right to offer a personal prayer on the 50-yard line immediately after football games. After his Supreme Court win, Kennedy was reinstated as coach.  AP now reports that on Wednesday, after one game back at which he offered a brief post-game prayer, Kennedy resigned his coaching position and returned to Florida where he had been living full time. Kennedy posted a statement on his personal website, saying in part: "I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by working from outside the school system so that is what I will do."