RE: indana legislative prayer

[Conkle, Daniel O.]

Title: Message

Not surprisingly, this decision is getting a lot of attention here in the heartland.  Both the Republican Speaker of the Indiana House (the defendant in the case) and the Democratic minority leader are strongly critical of the ruling, calling it inconsistent with longstanding tradition, religious freedom, the free speech of the invited ministers, etc.   For myself, I think Judge Hamilton's opinion generally is quite thoughtful and well-reasoned   Even so, I had a few questions after reading the opinion:   (1) Is Judge Hamilton's ruling affirming taxpayer standing well-grounded, even though there is no specific governmental expenditure that is directly linked to impermissible *sectarian* as opposed to permissible *nonsectarian* prayer?  (I think there may be a "level of generality" sort of issue here.)   (2) On the merits, is judicial relief appropriate only because the prayers have been predominately sectarian?  Or could a similar injunction properly be issued against other legislatures or city councils, etc., based on a far less pervasive problem, e.g., on evidence that an occasional prayer by an invited clergy person has been concluded "in the name of Jesus," etc.?   (3)  Is the opinion a bit overbroad in barring all prayers that "us[e] Christ's name or title or any other denominational appeal"?    Dan Conkle ************************************** Daniel O. Conkle Professor of Law Indiana University School of Law Bloomington, Indiana  47405 (812) 855-4331 fax (812) 855-0555 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] **************************************   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Marc Stern Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 11:47 AM To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: indana legislative prayer Attached is the decision invalidating Indiana’s legislative prayer on the ground that it was too sectarian. Marc Stern

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