AG Files Brief In Moment Of Silence Brief Before Fifth Circuit

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed the state’s brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Croft v. Perry, the case challenging the state’s moment of silence law.

Abbott’s press release is downright laughable:

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott defended the right of Texas schoolchildren to begin each school day with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a minute of silence to “reflect, pray, [or] meditate” before class. In a brief filed Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Attorney General Abbott argued that Texas’ moment of silence statute is entirely constitutional. In January, a federal district judge rejected a North Texas couple’s challenge to the law. Solicitor General James Ho will appear before the appeals court on behalf of the state.

It’s hardly defending a “right” when the moment of silence is mandated by state law. Too, I wonder what the Fifth Circuit will have to say about the fact that the Texas Education Agency didn’t send out a memo affirming the “secular purpose” of the law until after the Croft family filed its lawsuit.

You may recall that, although the trial court upheld the law’s constitutionality, there were significant concerns raised by the tardy memorandum.

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