Judge refuses to extend ban on moment of silence

A federal judge today declined to expand his ban of a moment in silence in Northwest Suburban School District 214 to other districts statewide.

But U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman did order the state school superintendent not to enforce the law, which means no repercussions for other districts in the state that drop the moment of silence.

The state's "Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act" calls for a moment of silence in all public schools. Buffalo Grove atheist Rob Sherman and his daughter, Dawn Sherman, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School, challenged the law as unconstitutional.

On Wednesday, Gettleman issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting District 214, where Beth Sherman attends school, from holding the moment of silence. Gettleman said the law is likely unconstitutional because it is vague and violates of the First Amendment's "establishment of religion" clause.

Greg Kulis, the Shermans' attorney, had asked Gettleman to prohibit the moment of silence in all state schools. But Gettleman ruled that because other state school districts were not yet party to the suit, he had no authority over them.

"Without some sort of defendant class, I can't extend the injunction," Gettleman said today.

That basically means school districts other than 214 can do what they want, but Kulis noted that if they continue to hold their moment of silence, a student there could still sue the district and would likely succeed in obtaining an injunction against holding the moment.

Kulis now will seek class-action status both for his plaintiff and for the defendant in an effort to add all school districts in the state. If that is successful, Gettleman could then order all districts in the state not to observe the moment of silence.

All the parties will be back in court at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 14.