Official Prayer: Two Arkansas school boards would likely win if cases go to court

Those who would banish prayer from public life are at it again.

And winning, at least on a small scale.

This week it was reported that two school boards in northern Arkansas will no longer open meetings with a prayer, at least temporarily.

The Springdale and Harrison school boards both say they have suspended prayers after receiving a letter from the Freedom of Religion Foundation objecting to the practice.

The foundation said it was acting on complaints from the public.

Both boards are seeking legal advice, but in the meantime no more prayers.

Readers will remember a similar letter from the foundation spurred a conflict between Bowie County commissioners and then-Clerk Natalie Nichols back in the summer of 2011, over whether or not a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance before the regular court meeting should be in the official record. The foundation has frequently challenged prayer before government meetings. And it has met with some success on local levels and in some lower courts.

But the U.S. Supreme Court has twice given its OK to such prayers, back in 1983 and again in 2014.

"The inclusion of a brief, ceremonial prayer as part of a larger exercise in civic recognition suggests that its purpose and effect are to acknowledge religious leaders and the institutions they represent, rather than to exclude or coerce nonbelievers," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the 5-4 majority in the 2014 case.

Basically, the court has consistently confirmed there is no absolute "freedom from religion" in public life.

The two school boards could resume prayers before their meetings and they would likely win if challenged in court-provided President Trump succeeds in getting a conservative justice on the nation's highest court. The question is whether it would be worth the time and cost to pursue. Unfortunately, that's a question too many have to ask these days. And a reason why in some cases the voices of a few override those of the many.

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