On March 4, the House Judiciary Committee approved a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would allow prayer in the schools and other forms of religious expression on public property.
William Donohue, who testified in favor of the amendment before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House Judiciary Committee in July, 1996, appeared on FOX News Channel to debate the issue with Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. While Donohue favored the wording of an amendment by Congressman Henry Hyde over the one by Rep. Ernest Istook, he defended the Istook amendment as being necessary to restore the status quo ante. Donohue argues that we need to return to the interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment before it was redefined by the courts in a strict separationist mode.
