A Buffalo Grove High School student has asked a federal appeals court to take a second look at its recent decision approving a state law that requires public schools to observe a "moment of silent prayer or reflection" at the start of each school day.
A ruling last month by a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago overturned a lower court decision that said the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act violated the Constitution. The panel found that the mandatory moment of silence was legal because it served a secular purpose in helping settle down students at the start of the school day.
In a motion filed last week, Buffalo Grove High student Dawn Sherman asked the full appeals court to review the case, claiming that the 2-1 decision in favor of the moment of silence is inconsistent with rulings on similar school prayer cases in other federal judicial circuits.
Sherman, the daughter of atheist activist Rob Sherman, filed her lawsuit after the legislature amended the statute in 2007. Sherman, 17, is now a senior at Buffalo Grove.
-- Andy Grimm
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