USA: The Supreme Court in 1962 called school prayer unconstitutional, and in 1985 said laws allowing a moment of silence in an attempt to restore school prayer are also unconstitutional. More than half of the states have voluntary or mandatory moments of silence. Indiana University law professor Daniel Conkle says federal courts generally rule that ‘moment of silence statues are permissible as long as they are not clearly tilted in the direction of actually encouraging students to use this moment for prayer.’

In 2007, Illinois state Representative Will Davis sponsored a measure for mandatory moment of silence that ‘shall not be conducted as a religious exercise but shall be an opportunity for silent prayer or for silent reflection’ and says the intent ‘was never about trying to put prayer in schools,’ but giving students a chance to ‘settle down at the beginning of the day is not a bad thing.’ The measure took effect 2007 October 11 when the state legislature over-rode a veto by Governor Rod Blagojevich. The measure caused consternation in some schools—a school board in Evanston decided to ignore it.

Then Rob Sherman, an activist atheist and talk show host, filed a lawsuit—his daughter is a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School. Judge Robert Gettleman said schools can’t enforce this because the practice attempts to reinstitute school prayer. Most schools don’t enforce it anyway, so the judge’s statement won’t change anything. Meanwhile, Sherman’s lawyer Gregory Kulis says he’ll request an injunction barring moments of silence in schools statewide or a ruling that the law violates constitutional separation of church and state.

State Senator and Democrat Jeff Schoenberg says religion should be practice ‘in our homes, in our houses of worship, not in our schools’ and hopes the legislature will drop the issue. School superintendent Tom Schneider says his schools ask students to be silent for fifteen seconds before reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and few parents or students have complained, but decisions on impacting students’ lives positively should be made locally.