ACLJ Defends School Board Prayer: How To Respond to Legal Threats

The ACLJ is once again defending the constitutional rights of local governing bodies to engage in the longstanding and lawful practice of opening meetings with prayer. This time, it is on behalf of a school board in Colorado.

Earlier this week, the ACLJ responded to yet another threat made against a school board for opening its meetings with prayer. The threat was made by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an outside organization promoting the “separation of state and church.” FFRF told the school board that it must immediately “cease opening its meetings with prayer” in order to “protect students’, parents’ and community members’ First Amendment rights.” This demand is rooted in an outdated and incorrect interpretation of the Establishment Clause – one that the U.S. Supreme Court has now firmly rejected.

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The Supreme Court has consistently recognized with approval our nation’s history of invoking divine guidance when conducting government business. In Lynch v. Donnelly, the Court stated: “There is an unbroken history of official acknowledgment by all three branches of government of the role of religion in American life from at least 1789”; and the Court noted that our national history “is replete with official references to the value and invocation of Divine guidance in deliberations and pronouncements of the Founding Fathers and contemporary leaders.” And the Court has affirmed decisively that the Constitution permits town board prayer even when such prayer is sectarian in nature.

More recently, in its landmark decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court clarified that Establishment Clause claims must be evaluated by “reference to historical practices and understandings” at the time of the Founding. This ruling marked a decisive shift away from the now-defunct Lemon test, which had long caused confusion and inconsistency in Establishment Clause jurisprudence. Even prior to the Supreme Court’s clarification in Kennedy, school board prayer was upheld as constitutional. Today, the legal foundation supporting such practices is even stronger.

Under this correct constitutional framework, legislative prayer is not only permissible – it is deeply embedded in the fabric of our nation’s history. From the First Congress to modern legislative bodies, prayer has consistently played a role in public proceedings. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed this tradition, recognizing that invoking divine guidance in governmental settings reflects the understanding of the Founders and does not violate the Constitution.

The school board’s policy is firmly grounded in this historical tradition. As a legislative body, the board conducts public business on behalf of its community. Like Congress, state legislatures, and city councils, it opens its meetings with a brief moment for prayer or reflection.

Critics often attempt to distinguish school boards from other legislative bodies, particularly because students may attend meetings. But this argument has been rejected by many courts, including the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that “the presence of students at board meetings does not transform this into a school-prayer case.” School boards are governing entities, not classrooms, and their practices must be evaluated accordingly.

Efforts to intimidate public officials into abandoning constitutionally protected traditions are not only misguided – they undermine the very freedoms the First Amendment was designed to protect. The Establishment Clause does not require hostility toward religion. Rather, it permits acknowledgment of the role faith has played – and continues to play – in American public life.

The ACLJ will continue to stand firmly in defense of religious liberty and the constitutional rights of governing bodies to uphold these time-honored practices. That’s exactly what we are doing here. We are stepping in to defend this school board’s constitutional rights, pushing back against intimidation, and making it clear that long-established, lawful practices cannot be erased by threat letters or ideological pressure. We are standing with these local officials to ensure they can continue to serve their community without surrendering their rights or abandoning our nation’s enduring traditions.

Take action with the ACLJ to defend the right to pray. Sign the petition: Defeat the Left’s War Against Christians.