The U.S. Supreme Court let stand two separate lower court rulings that forbid Christian public prayer prior to school board or county board meetings.
For background, read Jesus' Name Unconstitutional in Public: Federal Court and also read Jesus' Name Unconstitutional at School Board Meetings
UPDATE 5/13/14: U.S. Supreme Court rules prayers to Jesus Christ OK at government meetings
-- From "Court rejects appeal over prayer at public meeting" by The Associated Press 1/17/12
The justices on Tuesday left in place a federal appeals court ruling that held that the predominantly Christian prayers at the start of Forsyth County commission meetings violated the First Amendment's prohibition on government endorsement of a particular religion.
The commission said its doors have long been open to religious leaders of many faiths. But the appeals court in Richmond, Va., found that more than three-quarters of the 33 invocations given before meetings between May 2007 and December 2008 referred to "Jesus," "Jesus Christ," "Christ" or "Savior."
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From "Prayer Cases Turned Away by U.S. Supreme Court Justices" by Greg Stohr, Bloomberg 1/17/12
The justices today left intact a federal appeals ruling that said a North Carolina county board was violating the constitutional separation of church and state by opening most of its sessions with a Christian prayer. The high court also refused to review a separate decision that barred prayers at meetings of a Delaware school board.
The Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on the constitutionality of prayer at government meetings since 1983, when the justices said lawmakers could begin sessions with nonsectarian prayers offered by a state-employed chaplain. In other contexts, the court under Chief Justice John Roberts has given governmental bodies more freedom to support religion.
The [county] case is Forsyth County v. Joyner, 11-546.
In the other case, the justices left intact a federal appeals court decision that barred prayers at meetings of the Indian River School Board in Delaware.
The case is Indian River School District v. Doe, 11-569.
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