Pell City
Prayer ban blasted
By Elizabeth Wine
Birmingham Post-HeraldStudents and parents in Pell City complained bitterly about a recent ruling by a federal judge setting down rules for prayer in public schools.
Gathered in the rain in front of the St. Clair County courthouse, students said Wednesday they would not stand for the government robbing them of their religious rights.
The Oct. 29 ruling from U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent re-established guidelines for prayer in public schools.
Karla Smith, 15, said she accepted that people of other faiths other than Christianity pay taxes and might be offended by mandatory prayer in school.
But then she added, "I don't think just because they are paying for it don't mean we can't have it (organized) prayer."
"I think you should have God wherever you want," said Don Farris, 15.
"It should be all in one. If they don't want to hear us praying the way we want to, they should plug their ears and not listen."
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Birmingham Post-Herald, Thursday November 13, 1997
SCHOOL PRAYER
Judge cautions
Warns against ruling evasion
By Phillip Rawls
The Associated PressMONTGOMERY — The federal judge who struck down Alabama's school prayer law cautioned educators that they cannot slip prayers or devotionals into public schools by keeping them short or wrapping them in patriotism.
U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent issued a final order in Alabama's school prayer case Thursday that included additional warnings to educators about impermissible conduct, including not using a national crisis or allowing religious activity at mandatory home room periods and lunch breaks.
DeMent's previous rulings in the case sparked student walkouts, protests by parents and an appeal by state officials. His latest decision did not stop the furor.
"I am totally sympathetic to students, teachers and all Alabamians who lawfully protest Judge Ira DeMent's illegal order to strip them of their constitutional right to acknowledge God in or near public schools. It is not the people who are in error on this issue; it is Judge DeMent," Gov. Fob James said.
State Attorney General Bill Pryor said Thursday's order does provide some clarification of the judge's previous rulings in the case, but Pryor said he would continue to appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
DeMent ruled in March that Alabama's 1993 school prayer law, allowing nonsectarian, nonproselytizing, student-initiated prayer, was unconstitutional. Then, in October, he issued an injunction against the DeKalb County school system that outlined conduct that is permissible and impermissible. The rulings came in a lawsuit brought by Michael Chandler, assistant principal of Valley Head High School and the father of a DeKalb County student.
On Thursday, DeMent clarified some aspects of his earlier rulings against DeKalb County and ordered the school system to have one in-service training program for teachers. The judge said DeKalb County schools have ignored previous federal court rulings by allowing a long list of religious activities, including prayers over the public address system at football games, the distribution of Bibles in classrooms, and teacher-organized devotionals in the classroom.
The judge said he was particularly disturbed that Fyffe School officials allowed up to 200 students stand each day and pray when Chandler's son, Jesse, entered the cafeteria, an act intended to harass him.
He wrote that "disruptive, aggressive, harassing speech by students, eve in the lunch setting, is not protected" by the Constitution.
Also, he said that anytime students are required to be present — such as lunch, home room or anti-drug programs taught by police — is considered to be instructional time where religious practices are constrained. That is the reason, he said, he ordered Gideons to stop distributing Bibles during the home room period, because it violates the establishment of religion clause.
He also rejected the school system's argument that a prayer or a devotional can be so brief that it does not constitute establishment of religion. Instead, he said "no breach is trivial."
Likewise, he said, the school system's prayers on the intercom on Veteran's Day or in times of national crisis were improper.
The court does not, he said, "find any justification for prayer over the intercom as a gesture of patriotism. Indeed, numerous Supreme Court cases counsel against tying religion to patriotism and obviously, against identification with the state."
The American Civil Liberties Union's Alabama chapter which brought the suit on Chandler's behalf, praised Thursday's order.
"This order puts the finishing touches on a legal victory for religious freedom," attorney Pamela Sumners said.
Birmingham Post-Herald, Friday November 14, 1997
Baptist paper supports judge on school prayer
By Jay Reeves
The Associated PressBIRMINGHAM — The state's Baptist newspaper is urging calm in the middle of the school prayer storm.
The Alabama Baptist, the state's largest religious publication with more than 112,000 paid subscribers, came out Thursday saying a federal judge's order on the issue did not end the religious liberty of students.
This week's edition of the statewide newspaper also editorialized against required prayer in public schools.
The judge, Ira DeMent of U.S. District Court, issued an additional ruling Thursday, adding details about impermissible conduct. State Attorney General bill Pryor confirmed his intention to appeal.
In The Alabama Baptist, a column by editor Bob Terry recounted the historic opposition of Baptists to "government coercion" in matters of faith. It also labeled as "troubling" a recent poll that found most Alabamians believe public school teachers should lead their students in prayer.
"To require prayer of students is to use the power of government to force people to engage in religious activity," Terry wrote. "Baptists, among all people, should recognize such a position is a violation of one's God-given religious liberty."
Terry, formerly of Decatur, said he believes most Baptists will agree with the paper's position against required prayers once the rhetoric dies down.
But he was unsure how the paper's position on the issue will be received by Alabama Baptists, particularly during their annual meeting next week in Huntsville. "Emotions are high," he said....
The Huntsville Times, Friday November 14, 1997
Letters to the Editor
Nobody Voted for Judge DeMent
When and where will the ACLU or Judge DeMent strike Alabama next?
No taxpayer voted for or against Judge DeMent. Parents, children or principals had no opportunity to face their accuser in a court of law. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
What was the awful crime? It was not teen-age drinking, drug use dropout rate, illiteracy or pornography. I suppose these issues are not considered worthy of being addressed by the federal courts.
What about our federally elected congressmen, governor, state legislators and other elected officials? Why do we even vote? I suppose they can carry out the "trivial" matters that the federal courts do not want to deal with.
I still remember my uncles and other elderly men who fought in Korea and World War II. I remember their stories of their kin and friends whose bodies and blood were spread over foreign soil for our freedom.
The Congress and people of America are talking about human rights in China. China knows who its ruler is. They make little pretense of rule without representation.
I wonder about the rights of the people in Alabama and DeKalb County. Who is their ruler?
Cary Carlyle
Principal
Sylvania High School
Sylvania
The Montgomery Advertiser, Friday November 14, 1997
All Rights Reserved
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