The Supreme Court declined to hear a Florida city's bid to fend off a lawsuit by atheists accusing officials of violating constitutional limits on government involvement in religion by staging a prayer vigil following gun violence that wounded 3 children.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Florida city's bid to fend off a lawsuit by atheists accusing officials of violating constitutional limits on government involvement in religion by staging a prayer vigil following gun violence that wounded three children.
Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, dissenting from the decision to reject the appeal, expressed "serious doubts" about the legitimacy of lawsuits by offended observers. Ocala city officials helped organize and conduct the one-hour prayer vigil following a series of shootings in which three children were struck by stray bullets. Ocala's police department on its Facebook page posted a letter co-signed by the police chief and an activist affiliated with a local Baptist church that promoted the vigil and urged "fervent prayer" to help reduce crime in the community.
"As opponents to the separation of religion and government continue their anti-democratic agenda in their attempts to obliterate the line between church and state, our work defending that separation becomes ever more important to ensure the religious freedom of all Americans," Panikkath said.
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