A previous ACLU suit against public sponsorship of Boy Scouts, which excludes gays and has a religious oath, was settled last year after the city of Chicago agreed to stop sponsoring Boy Scout programs. The two targeted women objected to being singled out. The justices, in a decision handed down on April 6, claimed criminal charges against Rev. Leonard Burckhard would be a state intrusion into church matters. The Fargo Roman Catholic diocese had indicated it considered it a church, not a civil, matter. A federal judge ruled on March 31 that Boca Raton, Florida, has a right to limit decorations, including religious symbols, at its city cemetery.
Rules permit only a horizontal plaque at the foot of each grave.
Four hundred families sued the city, with the help of the ACLU of Florida, to stop it from removing crosses, plants and other items. Judge Kenneth Ryskamp noted that Catholic and Jewish cemeteries with similar regulations haven't been found to impede religious expression. Families do not own the cemetery plots, but own the rights to burial in that public land, he ruled, despite the passage last year of Florida's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Bush Promotes Football Prayers Gov. George W. Bush asked a federal appeals court on March 26 to reconsider its ruling that student-led prayers before Texas public school football games are unconstitutional. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans recently up held a lower court decision barring prayers before football games, but permitting limited prayer at graduation ceremonies.