Miami school board adopted invocation policy crafted by Christian group

Liberty Counsel, an advocacy group that promotes a "historically Christian and biblical" worldview, helped write the Miami-Dade School Board's policy for opening invocations at meetings.

Why it matters: Public education advocates say conservative officials are increasingly pushing Christian ideals in Florida schools .

• Liberty Counsel, which describes itself as a ministry and legal advocacy organization, is classified as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Driving the news: The Liberty Counsel's role in crafting the policy wasn't publicly disclosed, but it surfaced in emails recently obtained by national progressive watchdog group True North Research.

• The emails, shared with Axios, show that representatives of Liberty Counsel and the Christian Family Coalition sent board member Roberto Alonso another district's "legislative prayer policy" in early May 2023.

Catch up quick: Alonso proposed the new invocation policy that month, and the board approved it in August.

• At the time, Alonso said an invocation would set a positive tone for the meeting and "bring to light" the diversity in the school district, but supporters who spoke largely espoused the Christian faith.
• The policy largely echoed the language provided to him by the two Christian groups, which had previously been adopted by Okaloosa County.

Zoom in: The policy included the creation of an "Assembly List" and standards for what organizations would be considered viable candidates.

• In an email forwarded to Alonso, a Liberty Counsel attorney described a paragraph included in Okaloosa's policy as having been crafted "to prevent disruptive activities by atheists and others."
• Liberty Counsel in the emails said there wasn't any media coverage of Okaloosa's policy when it was adopted "because we didn't want to wave a red flag to the ACLU."

Between the lines: The board sought to avoid constitutional challenges by tweaking the policy's language to set the opening invocation before each meeting officially begins.

• Procedures also prohibit requiring any one person's participation.

Alonso did not respond to questions from Axios.

What they're saying: Christian Family Coalition founder Anthony Verdugo defended Liberty Counsel's efforts to avoid the ACLU's attention, saying the national civil rights organization can be "an annoying distraction."

• Verdugo, who spoke in favor of the invocation policy at the May 2023 school board meeting, but did not publicly disclose his role, told Axios it's "irrelevant" who was involved in writing the policy.
• "What's relevant is that all denominations have an opportunity to deliver an invocation before the start of the meeting," he said.

A Liberty Counsel spokesperson said in a statement to Axios it has provided draft policies to government entities around the country and Florida.

• "Variations of this specific policy have been provided to numerous school districts around the country, including Florida, always upon request by a local citizen or elected official."

The ACLU of Florida did not respond to Axios' request seeking comment.

The other side: Bobby Block, First Amendment Foundation's executive director, told Axios the district's policy doesn't appear to violate the First Amendment as long as it's applied equally, despite originating from Christian organizations.

• Special interest groups often write legislation because they have subject matter expertise, he said. The problem is when governments become beholden to those groups.
• "If a group of Zoroastrians want to lead a prayer, that's their right to do so as well," he said.