Editorial: School Board must abide by the courts

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Friday, March 7, 2003 | 5:35 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: March 9, 2003

Clark County School Board members Sheila Moulton, Denise Brodsky and Ruth Johnson were voting from personal conviction when, as a quorum at the Feb. 27 School Board meeting, they gave the board's approval to speakers at graduation ceremonies invoking God in benedictions and invocations. But the three board members were wrong to ignore the advice of school attorneys and the superintendent that, based on U.S. Supreme Court rulings, graduation benedictions that invoke God and are planned ahead of time amount to school sponsorship of prayer and are, therefore, unconstitutional.

Already their decision has resulted in a federal lawsuit against the school district filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada. The three should rescind their votes at the next School Board meeting to avoid something much worse than the lawsuit -- the potential loss of $70 million in federal funding.