Bennett

Leslie Ann Bennett, a high school senior at Granada High School in the Livermore Unified School District (School District), and Wilbur Miller, a Livermore taxpayer, obtained judgment from the superior court declaring unconstitutional, under both state and federal Constitutions, the inclusion of a religious invocation in Granada High School graduation ceremonies. The court further enjoined the School District from including an invocation in scheduled and future graduation ceremonies.

The School District appeals.

The instant action was filed after Bennett and two of her classmates were unable to convince their high school grievance committee and the directors of the School District to overrule the decision of the high school’s graduation committee to include a religious invocation at their graduation ceremony.

The Granada graduation ceremony is a school-sponsored event, held upon school property purchased with tax funds. Attendance of the ceremony by students and faculty is essentially voluntary, although members of the administration are required to attend. The School District, which establishes the guidelines for the ceremony does not require that an invocation be…