Federal court finds moment of silence law constitutional
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[CHICAGO - A federal appeals court ruled Friday the Illinois law requiring a moment of silence in public schools is constitutional because it doesn't specify prayer.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled legislators who supported the bill said the moment of reflection had a secular and practical purpose in settling down students at the start of the school day. The court also determined the law was "not unconstitutionally vague in all of its operations."
The ruling came in a lawsuit designed to bar schools from enforcing the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act. It was filed by talk show host Rob Sherman, an outspoken atheist, and his daughter Dawn, a student at Buffalo Grove High School in suburban Chicago.
In filing the lawsuit, Sherman said the law indicated an "intent to force the introduction of the concept of prayer into the schools."
Calling Friday's decision an act of "judicial activism," Sherman told the Chicago Tribune he will appeal the decision.
As passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the law allows students to reflect on the day's activities rather than pray if that is their choice and defenders have said it therefore doesn't force religion on anyone.
But in a January 2009, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman upheld critics such as the American Civil Liberties Union, who say the law is a thinly disguised effort to bring religion into the schools.
The Illinois Family Institute, which says on its website that it seeks to "promote and defend Biblical truths" by advancing public policy initiatives, filed a friend of the court brief in support of the law.
Andy Norman, the group's attorney, said Friday's ruling confirmed periods of silence cannot be interpreted as an establishment of religion.
"This law connects with out nation's heritage and a clear understanding of the First Amendment," Norman said. "Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door."