HOUSTON — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed against Gov. Rick Perry of Texas by a national group of atheists seeking to block his participation in and promotion of a Christian-centered prayer rally next weekend. The lawsuit, filed this month by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, asked the judge to declare Perry’s involvement in the event unconstitutional.
The group wants to stop Perry, who is contemplating a presidential bid, from either taking part in the rally or promoting it as governor, arguing that doing so violates the separation of church and state.
Judge Gray H. Miller, of U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas, ruled that the plaintiffs — the foundation and five Houston-area members — had suffered no concrete injury and that the governor’s invitations for Texans to join him in a day of prayer were “requests, not commands.”
The New York Times
