A federal judge this week awarded an atheist group more than $450,000 in attorney’s fees and expenses after the organization successfully fought against high school graduation prayer as part of a 2013 lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Hendricks awarded the American Humanist Association $446,466 in attorney’s fees and $9,776 in expenses, less than a year after she ruled against Greenville (S.C.) County Schools in a much-watched prayer case.
The school district indicated it may appeal.
“Throughout this case, the School District has argued that students, like other citizens, have the right to free speech, including that of a religious nature,” the school district said in a statement. “… The School District will discuss the path forward with the insurance carrier covering the defense of this case, but anticipates appealing both the fee award and the decision upon which it was based to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.”
The case dates back to 2013, when the American Humanist Association sued the school on behalf of parents of a student who objected to students leading prayers at a graduation. The organization also objected to the graduations being held in off-site chapels.
Hendricks ruled for the group and said in a 2019 decision that “the district shall not include a prayer – whether referred to as a prayer, blessing, invocation, benediction, inspirational reading, or…
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