Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry recently gave a speech to the Lousiana Family Forum, a religious right advocacy group. In his speech, he vowed that he would get prayer back into public schools:
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is vowing to fight for prayer in public schools, telling a friendly audience of several hundred people: “With your prayers, and an offense, we will get prayer back in public schools.”
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Landry said he was encouraged recently by a court ruling that a Michigan county board may open its meetings with a Christian prayer and invite audience members to join. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati rejected assertions that the prayers violated the Constitution.
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“I just want you to know that we are winning, and we will get God back into this country,” Landry said.
Attorney General Landry can cross this item off his to-do list since prayer is and always has been legal in public schools. What is illegal, and rightfully so, is for teachers or the administration to coerce students into prayer. This is a crucial First Amendment protection that helps ensure students of all faiths and none can have their religious beliefs (or lack of) respected. Hopefully, mandated prayer by the schools is NOT what Landry wants to bring back.
