Two sides close to settling Illinois dispute over school prayer

By The Associated Press

07.01.01

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PEORIA, Ill. — Attorneys for a recent graduate and a central Illinois high school are close to reaching an agreement that would permanently bar the school from sponsoring prayer at its annual graduation ceremony.

During a teleconference yesterday with Chief U.S. District Judge Joe B. McDade, lawyers representing Washington High School and valedictorian Natasha Appenheimer and her family agreed to file a consent decree before July 13.

McDade said the proposed decree would include a permanent injunction against school-sponsored prayer at Washington High School. The judge issued a temporary restraining order May 17 barring the prayers at Washington's May 20 ceremony.

The decree would settle a case sparked by an Appenheimer lawsuit claiming the traditional invocation and benediction given at the graduation ceremony violated her First Amendment right not to pray.

McDade said the injunction would not prohibit all prayer by students at the school.

"My order does not suggest there is not a constitutional way that prayer could be held at Washington High School," McDade said. "They can as long as it is not school sponsored."

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Pamela Sumners, who is representing Appenheimer, said both sides have tentatively agreed on the consent decree but differ on reimbursing the ACLU for attorneys' fees.

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