From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-When he was in the minority in a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court vote in 1989 that banned a creche display at the Allegheny County Courthouse, Justice Anthony Kennedy could do little more than register his dissent in writing.
But a quarter century later -- now writing for a court majority -- Justice Kennedy blew the dust off his words and used them to establish new case law. Local municipal boards, he declared, can invite clergy and other citizens to offer prayers before meetings, even if most or all of those prayers end up reflecting just one religion.
The court ruled, 5-4, on Monday that the town board of Greece, N.Y., was within its constitutional rights to begin its meetings with prayers, even though it went for many years having invited only Christians to lead the prayers. Prayer-givers had invoked specific Christian doctrines, invited all to bow their heads or stand with them in prayer and used terms such as "we" and "our brother the Lord Jesus Christ."
Read more:
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2014/05/06/Court-backs-public-prayer/stories/201405060086#ixzz30w5WpCLw
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