7th Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing of Moment of Silence Decision 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denied the petition for rehearing en banc of the court's decision that upheld Illinois' Moment of Silence law.  In October 2010, the court of appeals ruled that the Illinois statute mandating a period of silence at the beginning of every school day was constitutional and remanded the case to the district court with instructions for the lower court to enter judgment in favor of the defendant.

As we reported after the October decision, the injunction enjoining school districts from implementing or enforcing the law put in place by the district court remains in effect.  The parties still have the right to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  We anticipate further activity in this case and will post an update at that time.

Please contact Vanessa Clohessy (vclohessy@hlerk.com) with any questions regarding this law.