Teacher meeting prayers violate constitution, court holds.Prayers at mandatory public school staff meetings in Arkansas Arkansas, river, United States Arkansas (ärkăn`zəs, är`kənsô'), river, c.1,450 mi (2,330 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts., central Colo. violate the First Amendment principle of church-state separation, a federal appeals court has ruled. On Aug. 24, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of upon the side of; favorable to; for the advantage of. See also: favor Steve Warnock, an art teacher and part-time bus driver in the Devalls Bluff School District, who argued that Superintendent Charles Archer violated vi·o·late tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates 1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example). 2. To assault (a person) sexually. 3. the Constitution by conducting prayers at mandatory teacher training meetings. The 8th Circuit ruled in Warnock v. Archer that while the "government, of course, may speak on a large number of different issues" the First Amendment "forbids it from conveying the message that it decisively endorses a particular religious position. We believe that prayers at mandatory teacher meetings and in-service in-service In-service training adjective Referring to any form of on-the-job training noun In-service training of an employee training convey such a decisive endorsement." Americans United for Separation of Church and State Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is a religious freedom advocacy group in the United States which promotes the separation of church and state, a legal doctrine seen by the AU as being enshrined in the Establishment , which filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing against mandatory school-organized prayer, lauded the ruling. |
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