A New York town did not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by opening its town board meetings with prayers that were often Christian-themed, the Supreme Court recently ruled in a 5-4 decision (Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U.S. ____ (2014)).
Two residents of Greece, New York sued the town because of the prayers, arguing that Greece sponsored sectarian prayers and preferred Christians over other prayer givers. The residents sought an injunction to limit the town to “inclusive and ecumenical” prayers that did not associate the government with any one faith or belief.
The Supreme Court had previously upheld prayers before legislative sessions in a 1983 case (Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983)). In upholding Greece’s practice, the Court noted that Marsh was not limited to inclusive and ecumenical prayers. According to the Court’s opinion, “Absent a pattern of prayers that over time denigrate, proselytize, or betray an impermissible government purpose, a challenge based solely on the content of a prayer will not likely establish a constitutional violation,” (Town of Greece, supra at 17). The Court stated that allowing only nonsectarian prayers would actually increase the likelihood of an unconstitutional practice, as it would require governments to judge the appropriateness of religious content.
The Court also noted that the prevalence of Christian references was due to nearly all of the town’s congregations being Christian, rather than an endorsement of Christianity by the town.
