'Moment of Silence' wins out in court

Atheist family loses round 3 in their battle with "Moment of Silence" law in the Texas public school system. Last week, the New Orleans 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the mandate.

Following an ongoing court battle that surfaced on Digital Journal back in August of 2007 when an Atheist family filed a lawsuit against their children's school district calling the mandatory "Moment of Silence" unconstitutional, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana made its ruling and upheld the policy. In a news article out of Beaumont, TX that explains the reason behind the lawsuit:

A 2006 lawsuit filed by a Carrollton couple challenged the "moment of silence law" and stated it violated the U.S. Constitution when it included the word "pray" in the law,

it was further explained how the six-year-old mandate for Texas had recently been declared unconstitutional in Illinois after a father filed suit on behalf of his daughter regarding the prayer implication in the state's 'moment of silence' practice in schools. However, it was revealed that the judge in the Illinois case stated that:

The “teacher is required to instruct her pupils, especially in the lower grades, about prayer and its meaning as well as the limitations on their ‘reflection,’” Gettleman ruled.

“The plain language of the statute, therefore, suggests and intent to force the introduction of the concept of prayer into the schools,” he said.

The Texas couple, a known Atheist family whose three children attend school in the district, found the 'moment of silence' unconstitutional, with the father of the family and plaintiff in the case stating in a previous report that "It's clear if you watch the video and read the transcripts of the legislative debates that the main purpose of this law is to create school-sponsored silent prayer, and that with a wink and a nod they're just sort of calling it a moment of silence." In fact, the Texas language of the statute actually says:

"reflect, pray, meditate or engage in any other silent activities"

In 1995, Texas implemented a voluntary 'moment of silence,' providing districts with the freedom of choice on whether or not to implement it. In 2003, it became a state mandate, being reworded so as not to discriminate against those who chose not to pray or who do not have any religious affiliation. Simply stated, the minute is 60-seconds of quite time that can be used to organize in one's mind their daily tasks, think about the hot chick standing next to them, pull their pants out of their derriere or honour their Lord and Saviour. After being defeated in round 2 of his legal battle, David Croft refused to give up the fight and set his sights on another appeal. New Orlean's 5th Circuit decided to hear the case and Mr. Croft kept up his claims that the moment is actually a back-door for school-sponsored prayer. Apparently, the legal system did not agree. The original case stemmed from allegations that one of the Croft children was told by their elementary teacher to be quiet during the "time for prayer." However, the statement chosen by the teacher, although not confirmed, was not reflective of the district or the state policy. Although the linked article in the story surrounding this family's decision to appeal again has become unavailable, it is said that Texas is the only state that requires the students to cite the Pledge of Allegiance in conjunction with the 'moment of silence.' The family attorney has yet to decide whether or not to take it to the final phase of appeals: The United States Supreme Court. See 5th Circuit court ruling here in PDF format.