Pryor urges calm over religion-in-school issue
By Stan Bailey
News staff writerMONTGOMERY — Attorney General bill Pryor called Monday for calm in Alabama public schools while a federal appeals court reviews a far-reaching injunction banning school-sponsored religious activities.
Pryor said he asked U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent to delay, pending appeal, portions of his injunction, which Pryor contends violate the First Amendment rights of students.
"I would urge the citizens of Alabama, the students, the teachers, the parents to be calm and let the legal process play out," Pryor said at a press conference.
He urged students not to walk out of classes in protest but to wait until portions of DeMent's order can be changed by a higher court.
"That's why we're going to court. That's why we're appealing. That's why we're asking for a stay. And I urge everyone to see that the legal process plays out," said Pryor.
Pryor said a related school prayer case before Etowah Circuit Judge Roy Moore — who has issued a restraining order against enforcement of DeMent's order in Etowah schools — has been dismissed at Pryor's request by the parents who filed it.
Pryor also said he was appointed lawyers Jay Sekulow and Stuart Roth of the American Center for Law and Justice — a public interest law firm specializing in religious liberty cases — to help him with the appeal of DeMent's order, at no cost to the state.
"We believe that this is the most important school prayer case in the country, without a doubt, and that's why we're delighted to be involved," Sekulow said....
The Birmingham News, Tuesday November 11, 1997
Troops line up in prayer battle
By Malcomb Daniels
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISERAn appeal of a school-prayer ruling handed down last month by a Montgomery federal judge is the most important legal battle being fought nationwide, an attorney for a Virginia-based public interest group said Monday.
"The issue is whether children have freedom of religion in public schools," said Jay Sekulow, chief attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice.
Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor announced Monday that Sekulow will be one of two lawyers who assist the state in the appeal of the prayer ruling issued Oct. 29 by U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent....
The Montgomery Advertiser, Tuesday November 11, 1997
Air waves sizzle as James lashes out at prayer limits
Football games, school halls will fall prey to prayer police, governor chides
By SEAN REILLY
Capital BureauMONTGOMERY — Gov. Fob James Monday painted a grim picture of Alabama football players no long able to ask God to save them from injuries during games, and of court-appointed monitors patrolling public-school halls in search of "those dangerous felons who might, in a public setting, pray."
The governor was using his weekly statewide radio show to denounce U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent for setting out specific guidelines for prayer in public schools.
Under DeMent's guidelines, James said, football coaches would no longer be allowed to lead their players in pre-game prayers, and children might be subject to arrest for illicit worship of the Almighty on school grounds.
"How many will be jailed for participating in a traditional Thanksgiving program?" the governor asked....
Mobile Register, Tuesday November 11, 1997
Pryor enlists Robertson to help fight prayer order
Virginia foundation started by televangelist to help with Alabama attorney general's appeal
By BUSTER KANTROW
Staff ReporterAttorney General Bill Pryor has turned to a Virginia legal foundation with religious roots to hep fight a federal judge's ruling that he contends would prevent voluntary prayer in Alabama schools.
Lawyers for the American Center for Law and Justice, founded by televangelist Pat Robertson seven years ago, are helping Pryor appeal U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent's ruling issued two weeks ago.
Pryor has deputized Jay Sekulow, the center's chief counsel, to be a state attorney on the case. He said he will also receive help from Stuart Roth of Mobile, the center's Alabama legal director.
Pryor and the American Center are not seeking to return teacher- or coach-led prayer to school, Roth said Tuesday. Past federal rulings make it clear that judges will not permit that, he said.
Instead, they want to restore the right of students to pray among themselves during school, Roth said. DeMent's ruling demands that schools forbid voluntary student prayer in certain settings, Roth said. He contends that this prohibition violates the student's First Amendment free-speech rights.
The ruling has prompted several students to call the center for help, Roth said. A Mobile County high-school student said he had been forbidden to pass out religious literature after the ruling was issued, Roth said.
"This ruling changed the rights of public-school students on campuses across Alabama," Roth said. "It targets religious speech, religious ideas and those who want to engage in religious discussion for special disabilities."
A spokesman for a rival group, though, called Roth's argument "completely fantasy," and criticized Pryor for accepting the assistance of the 7-year-old Center for Law and Justice.
"It is completely inappropriate for the state of Alabama or any other state to be entering into a partnership with a television preacher's law firm," said Robert Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which participated in the lawsuit that prompted DeMent's ruling....
Mobile Register, Tuesday November 11,1997
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