In a surprise decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a town in New York can open its council meetings with a prayer, citing the long tradition of saying a prayer prior to the opening of governing bodies. As Lyle Denison of SCOTUS Blog points out, this ruling alters the constituionality argument of "official" prayer: Stopping just short of abandoning a historic barrier to religion in government activity, a deeply divided Supreme Court ruled on Monday that local governments may open their meetings with prayers that are explicitly religious and may turn out to be largely confined to expressing the beliefs of one faith. Narrowly defining what is not allowed in such prayers, the Court said they may not be used to praise the virtues of one faith and may not cast other faiths or other believers in a sharply negative light.  Courts have no role in judging whether individual prayers satisfy that test, but can only examine a “pattern of prayer” to see...(Read Full Post)