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yesterday

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Threatens to Eject Spectators Who Don’t Stand for Senate Prayer

A civil-liberties group says the directive violates First Amendment protections against compelled religious expression.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick admonishes those in the Senate Gallery who did not stand for the invocation and threatens to have them removed. (Screencap)
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Overview

  • On Aug. 15, Sen. Angela Paxton opened the Texas Senate’s special session with a Christian invocation delivered “in the name of Jesus.”
  • Presiding Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned that spectators who decline to stand for the invocation would be removed, calling it a matter of respecting the chamber.
  • The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent an Aug. 18 letter urging Patrick to retract the threat as unconstitutional under West Virginia v. Barnette, and it noted his 2007 walkout during a Muslim prayer.
  • Reporting highlights a legal tension in Supreme Court precedent that permits legislative prayer but bars government from coercing religious observance.
  • No retraction has been reported, and the confrontation is unfolding during a Republican redistricting push that has spurred heightened partisan conflict over the special session.