In the church I was raised in, we were taught separation of church and state and not to force our beliefs or our religions on one another. They taught us that Jesus Christ loved all his children. That means the Catholics, Jews, Muslims, the atheists. In Santa Fe, Bradley says that her son's graduation invitations did not mention the baccalaureate because the district feared legal problems. Days after its Santa Fe ruling, the Supreme Court advised the Alabama federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling allowing students to pray openly at public high school commencement services.
Couch fears the ruling undermines First Amendment rights.
Rulings in the 1990s assured religious groups the same access as other groups to public school facilities. It's legalized censorship. He says the ACLU plans to get a court injunction to scrutinize Santa Fe's actions at football games this fall to assure the district obeys the court ruling. Couch says that the district's legal fight was worth it. This is not about winning or losing.