On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Issues Guidelines for Prayer, Religious Expression at Graduation Commencement Exercise
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --The Rutherford Institute has issued guidelines for constitutionally permissible ways to incorporate prayer and religious expression into graduation ceremonies without violating the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as certain practices that should be avoided. "The Ten Commandments of Graduation Prayer" is available here.
"There is a great amount of confusion over what can and can't be done concerning prayer and religious expression at graduation ceremonies," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Neither prayer nor religious references are unconstitutional at such ceremonies. That is why The Rutherford Institute has issued guidelines in the hopes that our public schools will not censor students who wish to commemorate the occasion through prayer or other forms of religious speech or expression."
As parents, students, teachers and school officials prepare for commencement exercises, questions continue to be raised regarding what role prayer is allowed to play during graduation ceremonies. Unfortunately, despite court rulings that have attempted to discern between students' free speech rights and the Constitution's prohibition of a government establishment of religion, there remains a great deal of confusion about the rights of students and speakers at graduation ceremonies.
In issuing "The Ten Commandments of Graduation Prayer" guidelines, Rutherford Institute attorneys point out that there are constitutionally permissible ways to pray and speak of one's religious beliefs at graduation ceremonies. For example, students who have been selected to speak at a graduation ceremony may voluntarily pray as long as the ceremony is planned and organized by the student body independent of school officials. However, school officials do cross the constitutional line when they direct, edit or control the content of a student's voluntary prayer.
Rutherford Institute attorneys are currently litigating two cases involving censorship at high school graduation exercises. In the first case, Institute attorneys are defending high school valedictorian Brittany McComb, whose valedictory speech was cut short after school officials unplugged the microphone, thereby preventing her from speaking about the role her Christian beliefs played in her success. In the second case, Institute attorneys are defending a member of a high school musical ensemble that was prohibited from performing an instrumental arrangement of "Ave Maria" at the school's graduation ceremony, allegedly because of the superintendent's unfounded concerns about the religious nature of the piece.
