ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the legal context for the controversies and the current status of the law governing public school activities involving overt prayer during the school day, daily recitation of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, silent prayer provisions, graduation prayer, and student elections to authorize student-led devotionals. It also focuses on prayer and Bible reading in public schools. The First Amendment to the US Constitution contains the most preciously guarded personal freedoms of Americans, including religious guarantees. According to the court, a reasonable observer would conclude that the coach's kneeling and silently participating with the team's locker room prayer endorsed religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. In 1943 the Supreme Court established that students have the right to opt out of saying the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools based on their religious or philosophical beliefs. Federal courts provided mixed signals regarding student-led graduation devotionals and prayers at other school events.
