NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Congress and legislatures can open their sessions with prayers, but a federal judge ruled Friday that school boards do not have the same leeway. Ruling in a lawsuit brought by a parent against a southeastern Louisiana school system, Judge Ginger Berrigan said school-sponsored prayers in classes or at other school functions have long been prohibited as a violation of First Amendment guarantees against government-established religion. School boards are integral parts of school systems, she said. "In officially promoting a religious practice at its governmental meetings, the board is doing what its schools and teachers cannot do,...
