|
''Bibb County School District vs. Wickman'' (2005) was a case heard before the Supreme Court of the State of Alabama. It ruled that a policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games held at private venues and initiated by personnel of said venue does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Oral arguments were heard April 6, 2005. The court announced its decision on June 27, holding the policy constitutional in a 6-3 decision. School prayer is a controversial topic in American jurisprudence. ==Background of the case== The Bibb County School District (BCSD), a school district in Alabama between Birmingham and Montgomery, allowed students to offer Christian prayers over the public address system at home football games held off of school property at a private venue. These prayers were given by a student selected by the director of the private venue. A pair of former students and their father—a Mormon, objected to this practice and filed a suit on the basis of a violation of the Establishment Clause. These are the Wickmans. During the litigation, the school held its policy: as long as they held football games off of school district property and off of property controlled by the county, they would allow students to pray before sporting events if the director(s) of the venue holding the event invited a student to pray over the stadium's public announcement system. The district court allowed this policy, though it required that they be nonsectarian and non-proselytizing. The judge's main authority was ''Thomas v. Dothan SD'' (Dothan SD being another Alabama school district), which allows certain types of school prayers at sporting events. The district court's final judgment was in December 2003. The Wickmans appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court. The Wickmans appealed, wanting the football prayers found unconstitutional altogether, citing Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe. The Wickmans chose not to appeal to the United States Supreme Court after the decision was rendered, since Bibb County took possession of all sporting venues within the county, effectively eliminating their right to pray prior to school events. This did not, however, nullify the court's decision. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bibb County School District vs. Wickman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|