Austin, USA - A mandatory moment of silence for Texas schoolchildren has a secular purpose of encouraging thoughtful contemplation and does not advance or inhibit religion, a federal judge said this week in a ruling upholding the 2003 state law.
U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn of Dallas ruled in a lawsuit brought by a North Texas couple who objected to the law as an unconstitutional promotion of religion.
Lynn called her ruling a "difficult and close question" because of divergent statements by lawmakers at committee hearings and during floor debate in the Senate and House.
In her opinion, issued Thursday, Lynn said "there is no doubt" several legislators, including the bill's author, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, expressed a purpose to "put prayer back in schools."
But legislative debate also focused on other ways students could spend the 60 seconds.
"Legislators repeatedly emphasized that students could stare at their shoes, think about upcoming exams, think about their pets, engage in other nonverbal activities during the moment of silence, as well as pray, if they wished," Lynn said.
The law also requires students to recite pledges to both the U.S. and Texas flags. Parents may submit a written objection to exempt their children from the pledges.
The lawsuit was filed by David and Shannon Croft, whose children attended the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district.
Dean Cook, a Plano lawyer who represents the Crofts, said he had not yet talked to them about an appeal.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't win, but I like to think we had a moral victory in raising awareness of church and state issues," Cook said.
Proponents pleased
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott welcomed the ruling.
"Particularly in an age where children are so frequently confronted with violence and disorder, 60 seconds of quiet contemplation at the beginning of each day is not too much to ask," he said in a news release.
Gov. Rick Perry, a defendant in the lawsuit, said in a statement that he is "proud that Texas' children will continue to be able to have a moment dedicated daily to their innermost thoughts and contemplations."
Houston attorney Kelly Coughlan called the ruling a victory for the U.S. Constitution and Texas schoolchildren.
"It upholds that the First Amendment does not turn our schools into religious-free zones. It doesn't turn our schoolteachers into prayer police and it doesn't turn students of faith into enemies of the state," said Coughlan, who helped craft Texas' Religious Viewpoints Anti-discrimination Act, a law enacted last year to create limited public forums for student speakers at certain school events.
'Back door' prayer
Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Legal Institute, which is dedicated to defense of religious freedoms, said the ruling was a victory for freedom.
"The ultimate intolerance is someone attacking a moment of silence because they are worried others will decide to pray in their free time," he said.
The Crofts argued that moment-of-silence laws are unconstitutional because they are meant to foster, through the "back door," state-sponsored prayer in school. The law states that students are to use the silent moment to reflect, meditate or pray.
Lynn said that a legislature's intent does not have to be "exclusively secular to pass constitutional muster."
"There is no evidence of discrimination against particular religious groups in the present statute, as it provided one minute during the day when distractions are minimized," the judge said. "The court finds that the primary effect of the statute is to institute a moment of silence, not to advance or inhibit religion."
Chronicle reporter Jennifer Radcliffe in Houston contributed to this report.