Morehouse Parish School Board

In 2011, graduating senior Damon Fowler objected to prayer at the Bastrop High School graduation exercises, claiming a looming violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

[1] The ACLU of Louisiana asked the school not to include a prayer in the May 20 graduation.

[1] At the Thursday night rehearsal for the graduation, senior Sarah Barlow included a prayer that explicitly mentioned Jesus, and during the graduation, student Laci Rae Mattice led people in the Lord's Prayer before a moment of silence.

The school says that Mattice was told not to include a prayer.

[1] Fowler stated that after his objections became public he was ostracized by other students.