Pruitt: School Prayer At Sporting Events Legal
School prayer at sporting events legal, Oklahoma AG says
by Nolan Clay
The attorney general said Tuesday that public prayer before high school sporting events can be done legally.
Attorney General Scott Pruitt gave his opinion in response to a legislator’s complaint about a school prayer ban. Pruitt called the ban by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association “constitutionally overbroad on its face.”
The OSSAA oversees extracurricular activities for nearly every public school in Oklahoma for grades seven through 12. The association prohibits publicly recited prayers at playoff games and championship events.
It also prohibits inviting spectators or players to pray — even in silence.
The ban was put into place in 1992, after a U.S. Supreme Court decision. The board in June revised the policy, saying it now is in keeping with a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision.