Newt Gingrich's proposal to amend the Constitution to allow "voluntary prayer" in school didn't sound so bad to President Clinton when he first heard about it. "I certainly wouldn't rule it out," he said. Then he thought about it and ruled it out. He said what he really favors is a "moment of silence" law. Under this, schools schedule a brief time for silent meditation in classrooms each morning, during which those who choose to pray may.
That the president favors this approach is no surprise. Arkansas enacted such a law when he was governor. Maryland's present such law has been on the books since 1978. About half the states have such a law. The meaning of that fact is, to us, obvious: The states can handle this issue very well, without either an atrocity like Mr. Gingrich's constitutional amendment or a federal statute, which is what the White House has in mind.
Some ideologues say even a moment-of-silence law is harmful and unconstitutional. We don't think it's either. There have been no reports of ill effects from Maryland's law. And at least five of the present justices of the Supreme Court have indicated directly or indirectly that a purely voluntary non-religious silent-meditation law does not violate the First Amendment's prohibition of an "establishment" of religion.
The Supreme Court did overturn an Alabama moment-of-silence law in 1985, but that law was not what it proclaimed itself to be. It authorized "meditation or voluntary prayer" and also specified a 62-word official prayer to "Almighty God" for teachers to recite.
That ruling suggests any religious implication in a state law may invalidate it, constitutionally. A suit involving Georgia's new "moment-of-quiet-reflection" law is said to be headed for the Supreme Court. Should it make it, surely the court will take the opportunity to give states more precise guidance in this regard.
Maryland's law may be on solid ground. One section states specifically that a student or teacher may pray or read silently "the holy scripture" during the "daily period of silent meditation." Two successive state attorneys general have declared that constitutional. But a 1989 Maryland Law Review commentary, "School Prayer and the Constitution: Silence Is Golden," argues the part that specifies prayer and scripture is not.
Another potential problem is that Maryland's law says the schools may require students "to be present and participate" in the meditation period. A law to the effect that meditation in school is voluntary as well as silent, and with no mention of prayer and scripture, would be much less vulnerable to challenge and would serve the same purpose.
In any event, Congress and the president should leave this up to the states.