NEW JERSEY - April 16, 2008 - A federal appeals court ruled a New Jersey high school football coach who bowed his head while students on his team led prayer broke the law.

Borden's practice was to bow his head silently or "take a knee" while students on his football team led prayer prior to games.

But in 2005, officials at East Brunswick High School adopted a policy prohibiting representatives of the school district from participating in student-initiated prayer, even though it had been a regular part of the team's pre-game activities for 25 years.

The decision against coach Marcus Borden of East Brunswick High School, however, will be appealed, said John Whitehead, president of the Virginia-based civil-liberties group The Rutherford Institute.

"If this ruling is allowed to stand, it will mean that high school teachers across the United States will have no free speech or academic freedom rights at all," he said. "This undermines a time-honored tradition that has less to do with religion than it does athletic tradition. It's a sad statement on our rights as Americans that schools are no longer bastions of freedom."

Ed. Note: When is enough, enough?  The solution is to quit your job working for the government!  If you refuse the thirty pieces of silver they offer, and find other means of supporting your needs, then all Americans will be better able to protect their freedom.