The
By Valerie
Richardson
April 14, 2011
A federal appeals court Thursday
threw out a ruling that would have prohibited the president from declaring a National Day of
Prayer, in a decision that cheered social conservatives and occasioned much
wailing and gnashing of teeth by groups advocating a strict separation of
church and state.
The Freedom
From Religion Foundation announced that it would seek
a rehearing by the full 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
after a three-judge panel ruled against its challenge to the 1952 law, which
instructs the president to issue a proclamation encouraging citizens to pray.
The Chicago-based court ruled
that the organization lacked standing because it suffered no harm. It noted
that the proclamation requires the president only to take action and does not
compel any individual to pray “any more than a person would be obliged to hand
over his money if the president asked all citizens to support the Red
Cross or other charities.”
“All they have is a disagreement
with the president’s action. But unless all limits on standing are to be
abandoned, a feeling of alienation cannot suffice as injury,” Chief Judge Frank
Easterbrook, a Reagan appointee, said in the opinion.
The decision overturns the April
2010 ruling of U.S. District
Court Judge Barbara Crabb, a Carter appointee, who declared the law
unconstitutional because it constituted a call to religious action. The appeal
was filed by the Justice
Department on behalf of President Obama.
In her opinion, Judge Crabb wrote that declaring a National Day of
Prayer was tantamount to encouraging citizens “to fast during the month of Ramadan, attend a
synagogue, purify themselves in a sweat lodge or
practice rune magic.”
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the FFRF,
called the appeals court decision “cowardly” and said the foundation’s
lawsuit would have been successful if it had been judged on the merits and not
on the question of standing.
“Congress and the
president of the United States have no business telling me or any other citizen
to pray, to ‘turn to God in prayer and churches,’ much less setting aside an
entire day for prayer every year and even telling me what to pray about,” Ms. Gaylor said in a statement.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive
director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called the
decision “part of an ominous trend in the federal courts to deny Americans the
right to challenge church-state violations.”
“Under the court’s
logic, Congress
could order the president to declare the
The Family Research Council,
which submitted a brief in support of the administration’s position, commended
the appeals court for rejecting a lawsuit that “demands this kind of religious
expression be scrubbed from the public square.”
“Today’s ruling sends a message
to Judge Barbara Crabb and any other activist judge who would rewrite
the Constitution to advance a hostile treatment of religion in public life,”
said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “This is a perfect example
of a harassing lawsuit that should have been dismissed at the outset.”
Jay Sekulow,
chief counsel of the
“We’re extremely pleased that the
appeals
court rejected a flawed decision and determined that while some may
disagree with a presidential proclamation, they do not have the right to
silence the speech they don’t agree with,” Mr. Sekulow
said.
The National Day of
Prayer law was approved in 1952. Congress enacted a
law in 1988 that reserves the first Thursday in May as the National Day of
Prayer and requires the president to issue a proclamation.
The foundation
also has filed lawsuits challenging state-declared days of prayer in