Washington D.C., Jul 23, 2010 / 04:03 am
Claiming that the Obama administration is not presenting the strongest possible defense of the National Day of Prayer, several groups have filed requests that they be allowed to join the defense against what they see as an attempt to “scrub” the observance from the public square.
In April U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled a law allowing the president to declare the National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional. Critics of the ruling objected that the practice was part of America’s heritage.
The case is now being reviewed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), said that the Justice Department brief “doesn't go far enough in defending the National Day of Prayer.”
“The President's attorneys failed to cite any of the key cases that would require immediate dismissal of this lawsuit because the plaintiffs lack standing to bring it. FRC plans to mount a robust defense of this important national event that a liberal judge has attempted to scrub from the public square," Perkins commented in a press release.