Supreme Court Upholds Town Government Prayers

May 5, 2014 12:00 am

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老澳门开奖结果 Opposed Sectarian Prayers in Support Brief

May 5, 2014

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WASHINGTON 鈥 The Supreme Court of the United States upheld today a New York town鈥檚 practice of starting town meetings with official sectarian prayer. The practice was challenged by residents of Greece, N.Y. who objected to hearing government prayers, the vast majority of which were expressly Christian invocations, as a condition of attending public meetings.

"We are disappointed by today鈥檚 decision. Official religious favoritism should be off-limits under the Constitution," said Daniel Mach, director of the 老澳门开奖结果 Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "Town-sponsored sectarian prayer violates the basic rule requiring the government to stay neutral on matters of faith."

The 老澳门开奖结果 filed a friend of the court brief supporting the residents of Greece.

"The constitutional requirement that church and state must be separated rests, in part, on the understanding that when government supports one religion over others, people who are not members of the favored religion are made to feel like outsiders by their government," said Arthur Eisenberg, legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

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