The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled for the plaintiffs. While prayers before legislative sessions do not necessarily violate the Constitution, the court said, the \u201coverwhelming predominance\u201d\u009d of the prayers was explicitly Christian, leading a reasonable observer to understand the town to be endorsing that religion over others, regardless of the town\u2019s intent. (After the suit was filed, the board invited representatives of other religions, including Judaism, the Baha\u2019i faith and Wicca, to deliver the prayer, but after four months the prayers were almost exclusively Christian again.)<\/p>\n
Defenders of the board\u2019s practice rely on a 1983 Supreme Court case that upheld prayers before legislative sessions \u201d\u201d including those of Congress \u201d\u201d because they are \u201cdeeply embedded\u201d\u009d in American history. The prayers in Greece are constitutional, the defenders say, because they may be delivered by anyone, and the town does not compel citizens to pray.<\/p>\n
But compulsion is not the only issue. As Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor wrote in a 1984 case, when a government appears to endorse one religion, it \u201csends a message to nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community.\u201d\u009d After the Greece lawsuit was filed, one of the plaintiffs received a letter, signed \u201c666,\u201d\u009d that read, \u201cIf you feel \u201d\u02dcunwanted\u2019 at the Town of Greece meetings, it\u2019s probably because you are.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n