AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—A prayer luncheon will go on at the Air Force Academy after a judge rejected a lawsuit brought by a watchdog group.
An academy chaplain said he would make it clear that Thursday’s event is sponsored by the chapel and not the academy—one of the objectives of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argued the luncheon would violate the constitutional separation of church and state because it appeared to be sponsored by the academy and because some faculty feared retribution if they didn’t attend.
U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello dismissed the suit Wednesday saying neither associate professor David Mullin nor the Military Religious Freedom Foundation had shown the prospect of retribution was real and imminent. However, she said there was “some lack of clarity” in the way the event’s sponsorship was described.
