Officials in Court Fight for School Prayer Law
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Louisiana officials sought to reinstate a 1999 law allowing verbal prayer in public schools, telling a federal appeals court that those who filed suit over the practice did not have legal standing.
That contention raised questions from two of three judges on a panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, one of whom suggested that the Louisiana Legislature is passing politically popular laws of doubtful constitutionality, knowing courts will throw them out.
At issue is a law first passed in 1976 allowing for a moment of silent meditation for students, a reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic 1961 ruling barring prayer in public schools.
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