| Venue: | Ct. App. 7th Cir. |
| Facts: | IN legislature kicks meetings off with a prayer. They talk about wanting it to be ecumenical, but sometimes it's quite strongly Christian. |
| Posture: | District court finds forplaintiffs. |
| Issue: | Does this practice violate the establishment clause? |
| Holding: | In form, no, because there's the aspiration to be ecumenical, but in practice, by tolerating the failure to do so, it does. |
| Rule: | The content of prayer is not of concerne to judges, unless there's an indication that the opportunity has been explouted to advance one (or disparage another) faith or belief. |
| Reasoning: | The history and tradition of the constitution tolerate prayer, but the government can't do things that have the effect of affiliating the government with any one specific faith or belief. |
| Dicta: | |