By Lyle Denniston | SCOTUSblog
The Obama administration, entering a major new test case on government-religion ties, has urged the Supreme Court to permit prayers at the beginning of government meetings, even if most if not all of the recitals are from one religion, such as Christianity. But, in a newly filed brief, it has also asked the court not to permit citizens to join in such sessions with their own private prayers.
The court in May agreed to decide, at its next term, the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway (docket 12-696), involving the prayer practices at meetings of a town council in the upstate New York community of just under 100,000 people. The federal government is not directly involved in the case, but chose to enter it to offer its views, as it has in a number of other cases involving prayers in government settings.
