Louisiana time warp

Church & State, Jun 2000 by Boston, Rob

The bill altered an existing school prayer statute in Louisiana that permitted silent prayer or meditation every day by removing the word "silent." During deliberations over the bill, Rep. Cynthia Willard (D-New Orleans), the measure's sponsor, and other backers forthrightly admitted that they wanted to clear the way for vocal prayer in school every day. Americans United has asked the federal district court to declare the Louisiana law unconstitutional and also stop the specific practices in Ouachita Parish.

AU insists that the school board is on shaky legal ground, noting that no federal court has ever upheld the types of coercive prayer taking place in Monroe. "Public schools are not Sunday schools," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "Government officials have no business interfering in the private religious lives of students."

The lawsuit has rocked the Monroe area and, unfortunately, brought out numerous examples of mean-spirited, vituperative behavior. The two families who filed the case did so anonymously, fearing community reprisals against their children if their names become public. The plaintiffs' names remain secret, but that hasn't stopped some members of the community from trying to find out who they are.

Last December some local residents began speculating about the identity of the plaintiffs on a website chat room that a local attorney had set up to promote area activities and sports teams. But participants on the site, called "Rebel Net," used the forum to try to "out" the plaintiffs.

Several participants left anonymous messages on the site's chat room fingering Hans Korrodi, owner of an eatery in West Monroe called Joe Bob's Restaurant. Korrodi suddenly found himself facing an organized boycott. Business dropped off sharply, and eventually Korrodi had to close Joe Bob's.

"My friends began calling and asking me if I knew about the Internet," Korrodi told the News-Star last March. "I just can't believe people would pursue and prosecute someone on the Internet without even knowing if it's true."

There was one problem with the campaign against Korrodi's restaurant. While the chef does have two children in parish schools, he told the newspaper he's not the plaintiff in the case. Reflected Korrodi, "It just makes me sick to my stomach, to be a member of the community for 20 years and something like this happens. You couldn't have made me believe it before it happened to me."

Angry town residents have also flooded the News-Star with letters to the editor supporting school-sanctioned prayer and blasting Americans United, the ACLU and the plaintiffs. One writer called school prayer opponents "fools." Other writers have asserted that the United States should be officially Christian; several ex-students of West Monroe High wrote in to say that prayer has been a' regular part of the school day for years and they saw no harm in it. One man opined in his letter that he is glad the prayers are Christian since "this nation is supposed to count itself as a Christian nation."