Bloomberg Law
April 19, 2019, 5:44 PM UTC

Atheist Loses Bid to Serve as U.S. House ‘Guest Chaplain’

Mike Leonard
Mike Leonard
Legal Intelligence Reporter

The House of Representatives didn’t violate the First Amendment by refusing to let the leader of an atheist group open a legislative session with a secular invocation.

The custom of starting with a prayer dates to the Congress that ratified the First Amendment. Consequently, House rules requiring invocations to be religious in nature aren’t subject to ordinary scrutiny under the establishment clause, a federal appeals court ruled April 19.

The U.S. Supreme Court has twice upheld legislative prayer based on the tacit congressional approval it has enjoyed for as long as the establishment clause has existed, the U.S. Court of ...

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