"Moment of Silence" Defended in Texas
By: RNS
Updated: February 3, 2009
Texas Solicitor General James Ho is defending the state's "moment of silence" law before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ho appeared in the New Orleans' court today to defend a young Texan's right to begin each school day with the Pledge of Allegiance and the minute to "reflect, pray, meditate, or engage in any other silent activity." A north Texas couple filed a lawsuit challenging the law, but that challenge was rejected by a federal district court and now it has been appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
Ho said the Texas law that allows students to make a personal, private decision about their use of that time is entirely constitutional.
He told the court that the concept of a moment of silence originates with Justice William Brennan, who suggested that schools adopt "a moment of reverent silence at the opening of class" in his concurring opinion in the 1963 case Abington School District versus Schempp.
