Supreme Court Blesses Legislative Prayer

In the small upstate New York town of Greece, town board meetings begin with a prayer from the local clergyman. Many of the prayers include Christian themes, but not all of those who attend the board meetings identify as members of that religion. In fact, Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens took issue with these prayers, which they characterized as "offensive," "intolerable," and an affront to a "diverse community."

Galloway and Stephens, the Respondents, asserted that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment¹ only permitted nonsectarian prayers to be read at governmentally-sponsored events. They asked the courts to intervene. The Supreme Court disagreed and confirmed that legislative prayer does not run afoul of the Constitution – at least in certain situations².