Barker v. Conroy

ROSEMARY M. COLLYER, United States District Judge

Since the Continental Congress met in 1774, the States' representatives to the federal government have employed, and paid, clergy who perform as chaplains and offer a daily prayer before each session begins. Daniel Barker, an atheist and co-President of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, challenges the modern practice in the House of Representatives, whereby he was denied the opportunity to be a guest chaplain and to deliver a secular invocation in lieu of a prayer. Mr. Barker asserts that the Supreme Court's decision in Town of Greece, New…