Ten students, one teacher, and three parents from Wickenburg Christian Academy in Arizona were recently asked to leave the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court because they were standing in a circle, heads bowed, praying.

Wickenburg is a small town located about an hour northwest of Phoenix.

On a recent study trip, the WCA students and parents traveled to Washington, D.C. on a Christian Discoveries study tour. On Wednesday of the week, Capitol Hill was their schedule stop. They began the day at the front steps of the Supreme Court. After taking a few pictures the group gathered off to the left at the top of the bottom level of steps to pray.

Immediately the guard posted there ran down the steps and asked the group to go somewhere else to pray. He tapped the lead teacher on the shoulder and said, “Ma’am, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t pray, but you can’t do it here. Please go somewhere else.” She asked, “Since when?” The answer, “This week.” So the group moved to the street level and prayed on the sidewalk instead.

The Alliance Defense Fund, also located in Arizona, was contacted for advice by the Lead Teacher after their return. ADF released the following statement: “Even though they were not obstructing traffic, not demonstrating and praying quietly in a conversational tone so as to not attract attention, a court police officer approached the group and told them to stop praying in that public area immediately. The prayer was stopped based on a statute, 40 U.S.C. §6135, which bars parades and processions on Supreme Court grounds.”

That statute reads as follows: It is unlawful to parade, stand, or move in processions or assemblages in the Supreme Court Building or grounds, or to display in the Building and grounds a flag, banner, or device designed or adapted to bring into public notice a party, organization, or movement.

ADF has sent a letter to U.S. Supreme Court officials, asking that the police officers be instructed not to keep people from praying quietly outside the court.

“Mrs. Rigo was not engaging in a parade, procession or assembly,” said the letter signed by ADF attorney Nathan Kellum. “She was speaking in a conversational level to those around her with her head bowed. There is no reason to silence Mrs. Rigo’s activities since these activities do not attract attention, create a crowd or give off the appearance of impartiality. The ban on public prayers cannot hope to survive First Amendment scrutiny.”

The letter also infers that the statue used by the police officer did not apply to the incident.

“The wording of the statute does not seemingly contemplate quiet prayers like Mrs. Rigo’s. Such prayers are ‘not designed or adopted to bring’ Mrs. Rigo ‘into public notice.’ Indeed, Mrs. Rigo’s prayers were not communicated to anyone outside of God and her very small group.”

The attorney also noted that routine conversations take place during The Supreme Court tours every day and that Rigo’s class was not engaging in a parade, procession or assembly.

“The only logical explanation for prohibiting Mrs. Rigo’s activities, while allowing other conversations, pertains to the viewpoint of Mrs. Rigo’s expression. [T]he Supreme Court police have not targeted a subject matter or class of expression, but targeted a particular viewpoint for censorship. They have singled out and censored religious prayer as the only form of conversation to be silenced.”

The Supreme Court Police Department has been asked to respond within three weeks. If no response is received, ADF has threatened legal action to protect Rigo’s constitutional rights.

[Editor’s note: One or more original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid; those links have been removed.]