Legislative Prayer
Today we turn to a different kind of public prayer: legislative prayer. In addition to the question of whether prayer should be permitted in a legislative session, some legislative prayers raise an additional question of who pays the salary of the person delivering the prayer.
As the majority in Marsh v. Chambers points out, the First Congress approved funding for House and Senate chaplains three days before they agreed on language for the First Amendment. Does the First Amendment permit legislative chaplains? What about military chaplains, or prison chaplains?
Marsh v. Chambers holds that a state legislature’s practice of opening each legislative day with a prayer by a state-paid chaplain does not violate the Establishment Clause. Town of Greece holds that a town’s practice of opening monthly board meetings with prayer does not violate the Establishment Clause. Are these holdings reconcilable with the school prayer cases that we considered in our last class?
Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 US 576 (2014)
Optional Reading:
Richard Garnett, “Religious Pluralism, Civic Unity, and the Judicial Role,” SCOTUSblog (May 8, 2014)
Christopher Lund, “Town of Greece v. Galloway Going Forward,” SCOTUSblog (May 6, 2014)
Chad Flanders, “Religious Diversity, Thick and Thin,” SCOTUSblog (May 6, 2014)