Every once in a while you read a legal ruling that is so clear and so powerful that you wish that every judge would be so eloquent. Hemant Mehta reports on Judge Fred Biery who ruled last year against the reading of a graduation prayer in the Medina Valley Independent School District in Castroville, Texas . Unfortunately, the school continued to promote Christianity, which forced Americans United to file an amended complaint. In approving the mediated settlement last week, the judge wrote an wonderfully pointed, no holds barred, summary of the facts (read the whole PDF here):
Before the Court is a proposed Settlement Agreement [so that] the parties can operate as they peacefully move on with their lives and educate students of the Medina Valley Independent School District. …
What This Case Has Not Been About
The right to pray. Any American can pray, silently or verbally, seven days a week, twenty four hours a day, in private as Jesus taught [1] or in large public events as Mohammed instructed.[2]
The Real Issue
Does the United States Constitution allow a government entity elected by the majority to use its power to tax and its agents and employees to support and promote a particular religious viewpoint not held by a minority?
The answer, of course, is no. The judge when on to write:
For those who choose to enlighten themselves on why separation of church and state has been an issue of great debate and importance in American history, Appendix II follows Appendix I.
But it gets better, as the judge then added a very personal statement, set off from the rest of the ruling.
During the course of this litigation, many have played a part:
To the United States Marshal Service and local police who have provided heightened security: Thank you.
To those Christians who have venomously and vomitously cursed the Court family and threatened bodily harm and assassination: In His name, I forgive you.
To those who have prayed for my death: Your prayers will someday be answered, as inevitably trumps probability.
To those in the executive and legislative branches of government who have demagogued this case for their own political goals: You should be ashamed of yourselves.
To the lawyers who have advocated professionally and respectfully for their clients’ respective positions: Bless you.
That just about says it all. Thank you, Judge Biery.
This morning, Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia commented on a PhillyNow post from January 28, in which we reported that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution 
