Good News: 7th Circuit Court Throws Out National Day of Prayer Lawsuit
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a lawsuit that challenged the National Day of Prayer (NDP) as unconstitutional. CitizenLink and more than two dozen other pro-family groups had signed on to a “friend-of-the-court” brief in support of NDP.
The court overturned the April 2010 ruling by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, for the Western District of Wisconsin, that NDP violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group of atheists, originally sued then-President George W. Bush, then-Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and Mrs. Shirley Dobson, the chairman of the NDP Task Force. The lawsuit added President Obama when he took office; Mrs. Dobson was dropped from the suit last year.
The 7th Circuit wrote today: “Plaintiffs have not altered their conduct one whit or incurred any cost in time or money. All they have is disagreement. But … a feeling of alienation cannot suffice as injury.”
Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said: “The 7th Circuit has clearly understood that the Freedom From Religion Foundation simply had no legal standing to attack the federal statute setting a day for the National Day of Prayer simply because the group is offended by religion.”
NDP, which was established by Congress in 1952 and falls on May 5 this year, brings millions of Christians together to ask God to bless America. This year’s theme is “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” based on Psalm 91:2.