{"id":145,"date":"2009-03-20T13:30:19","date_gmt":"2009-03-20T13:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/03\/national-day-of-prayer-is-cons.html"},"modified":"2009-03-20T13:30:19","modified_gmt":"2009-03-20T13:30:19","slug":"national-day-of-prayer-is-cons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/03\/national-day-of-prayer-is-cons.html","title":{"rendered":"National Day of Prayer is Constitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry, I’m sure you’re aware of a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) in Wisconsin challenging the constitutionality of a 1988 federal law giving the President the authority to designate the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer. We just filed an amici curiae brief <\/a> representing 31 Members of Congress–including Rep. J. Randy Forbes of Virginia, who chairs the Congressional Prayer Caucus–asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit.<\/font><\/p>\n

It’s clear that the National Day of Prayer observances are consistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and are deeply embedded in the tradition and history of the United States. As you know, the time-honored tradition of American leaders designating days of prayer and thanksgiving dates back to the founding era. The Continental Congress recommended that the states set apart a day for prayer and thanksgiving, and George Washington began a longstanding practice of calling the nation to prayer followed by nearly every president. Even the drafter of the First Amendment, James Madison, issued several proclamations calling the nation to a day of prayer.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The appendix to our brief catalogues hundreds of examples of presidential proclamations and other calls to prayer from colonial times to the present day. The brief notes that, “[d]espite the long history of official government acknowledgment of the role of religion in American life, there are still those who, like FFRF, seek ‘relentless extirpation’ of all religious expression and reference from public life.” Our brief explains that Supreme Court cases acknowledge that the Establishment Clause must be interpreted in light of longstanding historical practices that are part of our national heritage. For example, the Court has declared that “historical evidence sheds light not only on what the draftsmen intended the Establishment Clause to mean, but also on how they thought that Clause applied to the practice authorized by the First Congress–their actions reveal their intent.” Marsh v. Chambers<\/em>, 463 U.S. 783, 790 (1983).<\/font><\/p>\n

Barry, I’m sure you’d prefer that presidents stop issuing National Day of Prayer declarations, but you have to admit that it is constitutional for them to continue this longstanding tradition, right?<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To subscribe to “Lynn v. Sekulow” click <\/font>here<\/font><\/a>.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry, I’m sure you’re aware of a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) in Wisconsin challenging the constitutionality of a 1988 federal law giving the President the authority to designate the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer. We just filed an amici curiae brief  representing 31 Members of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,2,4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress","category-courts","category-religious-freedom","category-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\nNational Day of Prayer is Constitutional - Lynn v. 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Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.  As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.  In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.  In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.  And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.  Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.  The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.  In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.  Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"  Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.  In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).  He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).  The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.  Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.  Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.  He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.  Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.  In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}