Maryland this weekend became the 17th state to enter as “a friend of court” in a case involving public school prayer recitation, which is currently before the United States Supreme Court. State Attorney General Thomas Finan said Maryland has entered the case in favor of retention of the prayer. Maryland’s interest in the Supreme Court case–involving public schools in New Hyde Park, N. Y., –stems from a Maryland Court of Appeals decision a week ago, upholding the constitutionality of prayer reading in Baltimore public schools.
The Daughters of the American Revolution wound up its 71st annual convention here with a resolution calling on the states to oppose any efforts “by the courts to suppress a recognition and reverence for God in our public schools.”
In another development, the District of Columbia Board of Education said it will wait for a public hearing on the question of religious practices–including prayer reading–in public schools. Such a hearing, originally set for last week, has been postponed indefinitely, and School Superintendent Carl Hansen said that all practices will remain as is, pending the hearing. The Washington Jewish Community, joined by several church group has been seeking to reverse the practice.
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