Supreme Court Won't Hear Birdville ISD Case Over Student-led Prayers at Board Meetings

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it won't review a North Texas case on student-led public prayers at school board meetings.The court's denial leaves in place the ruling by the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that allows Birdville Independent School District in northeast Tarrant County to open its school board meetings with a student prayer. Birdville ISD graduate Isaiah Smith and the atheist group, American Humanist Association, sued the Haltom City-based district in 2015, alleging that the Christian prayer at the school board meetings made Smith feel "violated and uncomfortable." In March, Smith told a three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit that the district's practice violated the Constitution by pressuring other students to participate. The panel disagreed.  Continue reading...