Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 16-1-20.2 (2026)
School Prayer.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
From henceforth, any teacher or professor in any public educational institution within the State of Alabama, recognizing that the Lord God is one, at the beginning of any homeroom or any class, may pray, may lead willing students in prayer, or may lead the willing students in the following prayer to God:
Almighty God, You alone are our God. We acknowledge You as the Creator and Supreme Judge of the world. May Your justice, Your truth, and Your peace abound this day in the hearts of our countrymen, in the counsels of our government, in the sanctity of our homes and in the classrooms of our schools in the name of our Lord. Amen.
(Acts 1982, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 82-735, p. 190, § 1.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8
cases, 1983–1997 · leading case: Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985).
Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985). “" [3] Alabama Code § 16-1-20.2 (Supp. 1984) provides: "From henceforth, any teacher or professor in any public educational institution within the state of Alabama, recognizing that the Lord God is one, at the beginning of any homeroom or any class, may pray, may lead willing…”
Jaffree v. Wallace, 705 F.2d 1526 (11th Cir. 1983). “1 (1982) and Ala.Code § 16-1-20.2 (former Ala.Act 82-735), which are known as the “Alabama school prayer statutes.”
Chandler v. James, 958 F. Supp. 1550 (M.D. Ala. 1997). “Code § 16-1-20 (1995), was supplemented in 1981 by a statute which specifically provided that the moment of silence "shall be observed for meditation or voluntary prayer.”
Wallace, Governor of Alabama, Et Al. v. Jaffree Et Al.; & Smith Et Al. v. Jaffree Et Al., 466 U.S. 924 (1984). “Moreover, the Court’s order also affirms the judgment of the Court of Appeals insofar as it directed the District Court to enjoin the appellants from enforcing § 16-1-20.”
Walter v. West Virginia Bd. of Educ., 610 F. Supp. 1169 (S.D.W. Va 1985). “2d 1526, 1528 , Ala.Code § 16-1-20.2. Cf. the West Virginia Constitutional provision at issue here quoted supra at n.”
May v. Cooperman, 780 F.2d 240 (3rd Cir. 1985). “Holmes, the prime sponsor of the legislation, that his sole purpose was to reintroduce voluntary prayer in public schools. Id. at 2483. Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Wallace v.”
Unknown, 597 F.3d 1007. “This statute was enacted the year before another statute, Alabama Code § 16-1-20.2, which provided the text of a prayer to be said each day by the students.”
Chandler v. James, 958 F. Supp. 1550 (M.D. Ala. 1997). “” Ala.Code § 16-1-20.1 (1995). Then, in 1982, a third school prayer statute was passed which “recogniz[ed] that the Lord God is one” and permitted public school teachers to lead willing students in a specified prayer.”
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