ACLU sues Cranston over prayer banner

[Ian David]

ACLU sues Cranston over prayer banner
11:24 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 5, 2011
By Maria Armental
Journal Staff Writer

The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union Monday filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Cranston challenging the constitutionality of a prayer banner displayed in the Cranston High School West auditorium.

The suit, filed on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, a Cranston West sophomore, asks the courts to order the prayer removed on the grounds that the city, through the School Department, violated Jessica’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights making her feel “excluded, ostracized and devalued by her school because she does not share or agree with the religious expression conveyed by the prayer.” Jessica is an atheist.

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“Indeed, as Cranston school district policy succinctly notes: ‘The proper setting for religious observance is the home and the place of worship,’ ” wrote Steven Brown, executive director of the local ACLU.

The prayer, which summons “Our Heavenly Father” to guide students so that they bring credit to the school, was a gift of the school’s first graduating class. Written in 1960 by David Bradley, a member of the student council at the time, it’s been displayed since 1963 in the Cranston West auditorium, across from the school creed. For a few years, Bradley said, the school prayer replaced the Lord’s Prayer during morning assembly. Students no longer say a prayer at the beginning of the school day.

More:
http://www.projo.com/news/content/CRANSTON_PRAYER_LAWSUIT_04-05-11_HINCG5L_v55.1af71b3.html