[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4364 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4364

  To protect the right of elected and appointed officials to express 
             their religious beliefs through public prayer.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2005

   Mr. Barrett of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. Brown of South 
  Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To protect the right of elected and appointed officials to express 
             their religious beliefs through public prayer.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Prayer Protection Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the 
        United States Constitution was intended by our Founding Fathers 
        to prohibit one religious denomination from enjoying the 
        exclusive backing of government and to prohibit the Federal 
        establishment of any type of religious uniformity or orthodoxy 
        that rewards observers and punishes violators.
            (2) The First Amendment guarantees the right of elected and 
        appointed officials to express their religious beliefs through 
        public prayer.
            (3) The exercise of this right does not violate the 
        Establishment Clause.
            (4) The courts and the legislatures of the several States 
        are in the best position to protect this right.
            (5) Article III, Section 2, clause 2 of the United States 
        Constitution expressly grants Congress the authority to define 
        the appellate jurisdiction of the Federal court system.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON APPELLATE JURISDICTION.

    (a) Amendment to Title 28.--Chapter 81 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1260. Matters not reviewable
    ``Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Supreme 
Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of 
certiorari, or otherwise, any matter that relates to the alleged 
establishment of religion involving an entity of the Federal Government 
or a State or local government, or an officer or agent of the Federal 
Government or a State or local government, acting in an official 
capacity, concerning the expression of public prayer by that entity, 
officer, or agent.''.
    (b) Table of Sections.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 81 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``1260. Matters not reviewable.''.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.

    (a) Amendment to Title 28.--Chapter 85 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end of the following:
``Sec. 1370. Limitation on jurisdiction
    ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the district courts 
shall not have jurisdiction of any matter that relates to the alleged 
establishment of religion involving an entity of the Federal Government 
or a State or local government, or an officer or agent of the Federal 
Government or a State or local government, acting in an official 
capacity, concerning the expression of public prayer by that entity, 
officer, or agent.''.
    (b) Table of Sections.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``1370. Limitation on jurisdiction.''.

SEC. 5. EXTRAJURISDICTIONAL CASES NOT BINDING ON STATES.

    Any decision of a Federal court which has been made before, on, or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, to the extent that the 
decision relates to an issue removed from Federal jurisdiction under 
section 1260 or 1370 of title 28, United States Code, as added by this 
Act, is not binding precedent on the court of any State, the District 
of Columbia, or any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 
United States, or on the court of any subdivision thereof.
                                 <all>