The Florida Supreme Court handed down a decision barring Christmas and Easter celebrations and the showing of religious movies in public schools, as well as the use of school facilities for after-hours religious classes. At the same time the court upheld Bible reading and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
The Florida Supreme Court rulings were hailed here today by attorneys for the American Jewish Congress and the American Civil Liberties Union which jointly represented five parents challenging sectarian practices in the public schools of Dade County, Fla. However, the AJC and ACLU announced they would appeal to the United States Supreme Court the parts of the Florida high court decision which upheld Bible reading and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
The appeal on these sections of the decision will be “vigorously pressed, ” the two organizations said in a statement, “because of our belief that these practices violate the church-state separation principle of the First Amendment.” The AJC-ACLU statement noted that earlier this year a Federal District Court in Philadelphia had ruled unconstitutional Pennsylvania’s school Bible-reading law and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer as part of a school exercise.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
