Fla. principal, A.D. avoid jail time for school prayer

PENSACOLA, Fla. (BP)--Following a day-long trial a federal judge Sept. 17 ruled in favor of high school principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman, two Pace (Fla.) High School employees who had faced possible jail time for a prayer said at a gathering on school property.

U.S. District Judge Margaret C. "Casey" Rodgers ruled that Lay and Freeman did not willfully violate a court order when Lay -- in his 20th year as the school principal -- asked Freeman to offer a prayer before the meal at a January luncheon in the school's field house with boosters and other adults.

Their prayer came after Rodgers had issued a Jan. 9 court order forbidding employees from "promoting, advancing, aiding, facilitating, endorsing, or causing religious prayers or devotionals during school sponsored events."

In her Sept. 17 ruling -- which came following a trial involving 12 witnesses -- Rodgers said the prayer appeared to be spontaneous and not a willful violation of the order. Lay and Freeman, along with witnesses who testified on their behalf, said they believed because the event was for adults -- and not for students -- it fell into a different category and was exempted from the types of school-sponsored activities in which prayer was expressly forbidden.

Rodgers' temporary injunction arose from claims by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2008 that teachers and administrators in the school district "endorsed religion."

The case drew national attention, particularly when it appeared possible that two school employees could face jail time for a prayer.

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