Supreme Court Upholds Moment of Silence Rule
The Supreme Court’s chief justice refused to stop Virginia from requiring students to start their day with a minute of silence.
The court may still consider a constitutional challenge of the practice.
“There is no allegation that Virginia schoolteachers have used the minute of silence . . . to lead students in collective prayer,” Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote.
A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that the state can require its 1.1 million public school students to spend a minute in meditation, personal reflection, prayer or any other silent activity.
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