Bown v. Gwinnett County School District, 112 F.3d 1464 (11th Cir. 1997), refers to an Eleventh Circuit Court case in which the plaintiff, Brian Bown, a school teacher, challenged as an unconstitutional Establishment Clause violation Georgia's law requiring a "Moment of Quiet Reflection". The Court ruled that the Moment of Quiet Reflection was not unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari for an appeal.
Background The State of Georgia passed the Moment of Quiet Reflection in Schools Act, which came into effect in 1994. The law did not require or endorse prayer,Brockman, D. "A Moment of Silence: The Trojan Horse of Our Age." saying that it "is not intended to be and shall not be conducted as a religious service or exercise".
Public school teacher Brian Bown challenged the Act.Fontana, V. "Municipal Liability: Law and Practice," pg. 289. He sued the Gwinnett County School District, alleging that the law was an Establishment Clause violation implicitly requiring school prayer. At trial, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled that the Act did not violate the establishment clause.Larry R. Thaxton, Silence Begets Religion: Bown v. Gwinnett County School District and the Unconstitutionality of Moments of Silence in Public Schools, 57 1399, 1423 (1996).
Opinion of the Court The Eleventh Circuit Court heard the case and ruled that the Act did not violate the Establishment Clause, holding that it did not violate any of the three prongs of the Lemon test.Joan DelFattore, 174 (2004); Mary Ellen Vales, Stuck in a Moment (of Silence): The Seventh Circuit's Misapplication of the Void for Vagueness Doctrine to the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act , 6 429, 434-35 (2011).
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