United States Seventh Circuit

In a student's suit against an Illinois school superintendent and the school district, claiming that Section 1 of the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, which makes it mandatory a period of silence in public schools, is unconstitutional, district court's grant of plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is reversed and remanded where: 1) plaintiff's First Amendment challenge fails as the Illinois legislature had a secular purpose in passing Section 1, there is no evidence that the secular purpose is a sham and that Illinois's true purpose was to promote prayer, and there is nothing impermissible about clarifying that students may pray during that time period; 2) Section 1 does not advance or inhibit religion, but rather mandates only a period of silence; 3) there is no state entanglement with religion; and 4) plaintiff's vagueness challenge also fails because Section 1 is not unconstitutionally vague in all of its operations.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/10/2010
• Decided 10/15/2010
• Published 10/15/2010

Judges

• MANION

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel