Attorneys are preparing to defend Illinois' "period of silence" law for public schools.
Earlier this year, a federal judge struck down the law as a violation of the supposed "separation of church and state" because the law was "unconstitutionally vague." David Cortman of the Alliance Defense Fund -- which this week filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the law -- explains that under the law, students are not required to pray and teachers are not involved. "As a matter of fact, what's interesting about the case is [that] it's a period of silent reflection where a student simply is allowed to pray if they so choose, but can certainly have any silent thoughts regarding the activities of the day," says Cortman. Is it true the original lawsuit was filed by one atheist who objects? "It is correct," the attorney responds. "I think this is a perfect example of how radical the ACLU and their allies are. They even oppose a moment of silence if there's just a chance that someone may choose to pray." Three other federal appeals courts have upheld moment of silence laws passed in other states. The Seventh U.S. Circuit is being asked to do the same with the Illinois statute.
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