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Dr. Boozman's Check-up

A call to prayer began when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in the formation of our nation and we follow this tradition every day when the Senate and House of Representatives meet, each chamber begins with a prayer.

The Senate tradition began when a chaplain was appointed to the chamber in 1789. A case before the Supreme Court is challenging this practice.

The New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled that the Town of Greece, New York had violated the U.S. Constitution by allowing town board meetings to be opened with prayer, even though the town's practice welcomed prayers from members of any religion or denomination as well as reflections from atheists. For example, the town has welcomed Christian, Jewish, and Wiccan prayer. The Supreme Court will take up this case in its upcoming term.

I joined Senator Marco Rubio, (R, FL) and many other Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding Town of Greece v. Galloway, the landmark case concerning religious liberty. The brief argues that the Court should reaffirm the Constitutional footing of the practice of legislative prayer.

In the brief, we wrote, "In this religiously diverse Nation, the best means of ensuring that the government does not prefer any particular religious view in the context of legislative prayer is not to silence some such prayers while allowing others. It is to allow those who pray to do so in accordance with the dictates of their consciences." Adding that “...allowing those who offer legislative prayers to pray in accordance with their own consciences is the approach that best serves the value of religious liberty that underlies the First Amendment.”

Read the brief at the link below.

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