Skip navigation
sponsored by 

‘Moment of silence’ challenged in Ill. schools

Judge favors class action for lawsuit against silent reflection

Video: Education  
Scholarship recipients thankful for ‘Superman’
  May 9: Two Davis Scholars at Colby College, one from Zimbabwe and one from Washington state, are thinking about how they can change the world. NBC’s Rehema Ellis reports.

  Stand and be counted
Gut Check America

What keeps you up at night? Gut Check America wants you to tell us what really matters to our country. Click here to learn more and get involved.

  Photo features  
  More
Farmer inspects sunflower crop in field in Taragarh village, on outskirts of Amritsar
Reuters
  Week in Pictures
A crop outgrows the farmer, a cloud spins and sparks, and soldiers suffer in the sand
Image: University fire
AP
PhotoBlog
View and discuss the pictures and issues that caught our eyes.
updated 10:21 p.m. ET March 19, 2008

CHICAGO - A federal judge favors expanding a legal challenge to a mandatory moment of silence in classrooms into a class-action lawsuit that would include all Illinois school districts.

Judge Robert W. Gettleman said Wednesday that he also plans to expand the plaintiff's side of the lawsuit to include all students, instead of just the one suburban teenage girl who sued to block the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act.

"A bilateral class is the only way to go here," Gettleman said.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement

Gettleman said he wants to hear from both sides before extending an injunction he issued in November temporarily blocking the state superintendent from enforcing the Illinois law, which requires a brief period of prayer or reflective silence at the start of every school day.

He also wants the sides to plan how to inform school districts of the class action and whether districts can opt out of the case.

Some districts require the daily silence, following the state act that went into effect in October.

Other districts, including Chicago, have stopped enforcing the law as they wait for the court to decide on its constitutionality, said Illinois assistant attorney general Thomas Ioppolo.

Move to make it optional
Meanwhile, legislation has been introduced in Springfield to remove the words "student prayer" from the law and make it optional.

"I was hoping, frankly, this was further along in the legislative process," the judge said at Wednesday's hearing. "I was hoping we'd avoid spending resources on all sides."

The lawsuit was filed by talk show host Rob Sherman, an outspoken atheist, and his daughter, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School.

Sherman contends the law represents an attempt to inject religion into the public schools. Lawmakers passed the measure over Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich's veto.

The judge set March 28 for the next hearing.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Rate this story LowHigh
 • View Top Rated stories

  MORE FROM EDUCATION  
  
Education Section Front
 
Add Education headlines to your news reader:
 

Sponsored links

Resource guide

Search Jobs

Find your next car

Find Your Dream Home

Find a business to start

$7 trades, no fee IRAs