Ruling Against Prayers at Military School Stands

An evenly divided federal appeals court refused to reconsider a ruling that group prayers before evening meals at Virginia Military Institute were unconstitutional. The 6-6 vote by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lets stand a three-judge panel’s decision that the prayers, although nondenominational, violated the separation of church and state.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, wrote in dissent that he disagreed with the panel’s finding that VMI’s emphasis on conformity pressures cadets to participate in a religious exercise. An appeal is planned.