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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: JCPA APPLAUDS SUPREME COURT DECISION IN SCHOOL PRAYER CASE Jewish Council for Public Affairs Hails Court Ruling Striking Down "Invocations" At Public High School Football Games
June 19, 2000 -- New York, N.Y. -- The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) today hailed a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that a Texas school district’s policy of permitting student-led "invocations" at public high school football games is an unconstitutional violation of church-state separation. The Court held that allowing, and indeed encouraging, elected student representatives to deliver such religious messages at officially-sponsored and controlled school events represents an impermissible endorsement of religion by the public school, and is therefore unconstitutional. "Today’s decision is a victory for religious freedom in the United States," declared JCPA National Chair, Dr. Leonard A. Cole. "Whatever the intention of such religious exercises, the net effect is to make children of minority faiths or no religious faith at all feel marginalized," he stated. "The Court’s action reinforces the principle that our nation’s public schools must provide children with a learning environment that is free of religious coercion and indoctrination, one that fosters tolerance and respect for all people."
# # # The Jewish Council for Public Affairs is the public affairs arm of the organized American Jewish community and serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 13 national and 122 local agencies comprising the field of Jewish community relations. |
