Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard are taking a stand — or in this case bending a knee — in support of legislative prayer.
Strange is joined by 22 other attorneys general from across the country in a brief (Town of Greece, N.Y. V. Galloway) asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling which stated that legislative prayer at the beginning of a government assembly violates the Establishment Clause.
“Alabama has a long history of opening sessions with prayer,” Strange said in a statement. “I am proud to join this brief urging the Supreme Court to continue to protect this important tradition.”
In a separate filing Tuesday, Speaker Hubbard and Arizona Speaker Andrew Tobin became the only two state house speakers to join together in support of legislative prayer.
“Legislative prayer dates back to the very foundation of our democracy and it is a practice that is embedded into the rules of the Alabama Legislature,” Hubbard said. “The tradition of opening our meetings with a prayer is one that I applaud and protect, and I hope the Supreme Court will do the same.”
In a ruling 30 years ago, the Supreme Court defended the practice of holding prayer at the beginning of legislative session. The Court said that legislative prayer is “part of the fabric of our society.” The brief filed Tuesday is asking the Supreme Court to reaffirm this action.
The Establishment Clauses states that ” “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
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