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Federal judge in Del. throws out suit challenging prayer at school board meetings
(AP, February 24, 2010)

Wilmington, USA - A federal judge has ruled that the Indian River School Board can continue to start its meetings with a prayer or moment of silence.

In an opinion released Monday, U.S. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr. said that it is constitutional for the board to open meetings with prayer and threw out a lawsuit over the practice.

The lawsuit was filed in 2005 by two Jewish families, "John and Jane Doe," parents of a child in the school district, and by Mona and Marco Dobrich, who sued after a Christian prayer was offered at their daughter's 2004 graduation.

The suit accused the board of violating the constitutional separation of church and state with prayer that the plaintiffs said excluded other groups. Farnan found that prayer is permissible because the elected school board is closer to a legislative body than a school.

The attorney for the plaintiffs says they expect to appeal the decision.

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