Can you imagine starting each day at school joining your class in a prayer that you might not believe in? Back in the 1950s, many teachers led the class in a public prayer, and these prayers were usually from one religion. In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school-sponsored classroom prayer is a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
But that doesn’t mean students can never pray while in school. The rule against organized school prayer is balanced by another First Amendment right: the free exercise of religion. As a law professor who specializes in law and religion, I’ve studied how the First Amendment applies in a school setting.
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