Eleventh Circuit Opinion Cited in Today's Town of Greece v. Galloway Supreme Court Opinion

The Supreme Court's opinion today in Town of Greece v. Galloway was momentous in many ways.  It is one the few establishment clause case decided by the Roberts Court.  It shows us that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito have shifted the Court's previous Establishment Clause balance to the right, after favoring a separationist position for many years.  Justice Alito even hinted in his concurrence that he might be the third vote (in addition to Justice Scalia and Thomas) explicitly in favor of overturning Lemon.  Perhaps even more interesting, all nine justices agreed that Marsh v. Chambers was correctly decided (even though there were three dissenters in that case).

However, of relevance to this blog, Justice Kennedy's opinion approvingly cited the Eleventh Circuit's opinion in Atheists of Florida, Inc. v. Lakeland,  713 F.3d 577(11th Cir. 2003).  In that case, the panel (Senior Circuit Judge Alarcon (9th Cir.), joined by then-Chief Circuit Judge Dubina, and Circuit Judge Black) held that legislative prayer (even sectarian legislative prayer) did not violate the Establishment Clause.