Indiana branch wants entire appellate court to decide on challenge

The ACLU of Indiana has asked the full 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a three-judge panel’s dismissal of the group’s challenge to sectarian prayers at the Statehouse.

Carl Tobias, a constitutional law expert at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said he would expect the full 7th Circuit to reconsider the decision because “it is really a close case.”
It’s unclear how long it would take the 7th Circuit to decide whether to rehear the case. The timeline, ACLU attorney Ken Falk said Wednesday, could depend on whether the court asks the state to submit a legal brief arguing against a rehearing.
Last month, the 7th Circuit panel ruled 2-1 to overturn a lower court’s decision that sectarian prayers on the floor of the Indiana House violated the constitutional separation of church and state. The appeals court said the four taxpayers represented by the ACLU of Indiana did not have standing to sue because the recitation of prayers did not involve taxpayer expenditures.
The court, however, did not rule on the specific question of whether the prayers should be allowed.
Legislative leaders widely applauded the court’s decision, calling it a victory for free speech.
If lawmakers resume sectarian prayers, Falk warned, his group could file another lawsuit.
The legislature reconvenes Tuesday for Organization Day, but House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has not said whether a sectarian prayer would be given at the start of business. Falk said he would expect the House and Senate to continue their practice of offering nonsectarian prayers, because the 7th Circuit’s decision would not be final until the court rules on the ACLU’s request for a rehearing.
The group’s lawsuit was filed in 2005 after a minister led the House in singing “Just a Little Talk with Jesus.” In November 2005, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton ruled that opening prayers in the Indiana House could not mention Jesus or endorse a particular religion.

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