Divided federal appeals panel upholds Virginia minute-of-silence law
By The Associated Press
07.25.01
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RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia law that says public school students can pray during a mandatory minute of silence does not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on government-sponsored religion, a federal appeals court panel ruled yesterday.
In a 2-1 decision in Brown v. Gilmore, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected the American Civil Liberties Union's claim that the law is a veiled attempt to coerce students to pray.
The law, passed by the 2000 General Assembly, requires schools to open the day with a minute devoted to meditation, prayer or any other silent activity. Legislators who supported the law said the goal was to combat school violence and that prayer had to be listed as an option to preserve students' right to free exercise of religion.
The appeals panel said the law strikes a constitutionally permissible balance.
"In establishing a minute of silence, during which students may choose to pray or to meditate in a silent and nonthreatening manner, Virginia has introduced at most a minor and nonintrusive accommodation of religion that does not establish religion," Judge Paul V. Niemeyer wrote in the majority opinion, which was joined by Judge Karen Williams. "By providing this moment of silence, the state makes no endorsement of religion."
Judge Robert B. King disagreed.
"The commonwealth contends that there are only secular purposes behind the Virginia statute, such as instilling calm in the classroom and accommodating the free exercise of religion," he wrote in a dissenting opinion. "However, the statute's true aim is clear: to encourage students to pray."
The law, he wrote, is "repugnant to the Constitution's Establishment Clause and erodes the separation between church and state."
The appeals court's ruling upheld a decision by U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton of Alexandria. The ACLU, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of several students and their parents, could either seek a new hearing before the full appeals court or take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"While this is a disappointing decision, it contains a strong, well-articulated dissent that could serve as a basis for requesting rehearing by the full court," said Kent Willis, executive director of the state ACLU. "But that decision has not been made yet."
State Attorney General Randolph A. Beales called the ruling "a victory for common sense." One provision of the minute-of-silence law requires the attorney general to defend any local school districts that are sued over implementation of the law.
For 24 years, the state had authorized public schools to establish a daily minute of silence. Only a few had done so before the General Assembly passed the law making the silent minute mandatory. The law took effect July 1, 2000, and was observed during the last school year.
Update
ACLU asks high court to block Virginia moment-of-silence law
Students shouldn’t ‘be compelled to suffer another year or another day’ under statute that violates church-state separation, opponents argue in emergency filing.
09.04.01
Previous
Federal appeals panel hears challenge to Virginia minute-of-silence law
ACLU claims statute is thinly veiled effort to reintroduce prayer into public schools.
05.09.01
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