One Minute of Required Silence in Texas Classrooms: The Fifth Circuit Upholds the State's Moment of Silence Amendments

Most recently, the Fifth Circuit, in Croft v. Perry ( Croft ), upheld the 2003 amendments to the Texas Education Code that “changed the way that every schoolchild in Texas begins the day.” In particular, the Texas amendments provided for the recitation of the pledges of allegiance to the flags of the United States and Texas, followed by a minute of silence for students to “reflect, pray, meditate, or engage in any other silent activity.... ” The purposes of this article are to review the Fifth Circuit's decision in Croft , distill from Croft legal principles involving the interpretation of the secular purpose test of the Establishment Clause, and to discuss the legal and educational implications of Croft for officials and students in public schools.