The paper discusses the correctness of the decision of the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, in the Galloway v. City of Greece, 681 F.3d 20 (2d Cir. 2012), reversing the district court's ruling that a city council's practice of beginning its meetings with an opening prayer violated the Establishment Clause and posited that the decision was correct given the facts of the case. The Establishment Clause is contained in the First Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees religious freedom and prohibits Congress from legislating to establish any law. In other words, the state cannot impose the observance of a particular religious practice. The plaintiffs challenged the City Council's practice in district court, and the court denied the claim by summary judgment in favor of the defendant, finding that the establishment clause was not sufficient. does not in itself prevent denominational prayers and that the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that the practice of prayer in the city had the effect of establishing the Christian religion. The district court rejected the plaintiffs' challenge, finding that there was no credible evidence that city employees intentionally excluded representatives of particular faiths in an effort to establish Christianity and that the establishment clause did not in itself prohibit denominational prayers. The Circuit Court noted that between the relevant period of 1999 and June 2010, of the 120 of the 130 prayers recorded, approximately two-thirds had Christian references and the remaining third also invoked biblical theistic concepts such as "God of all creation”. "Heavenly Father" and God's "kingdom of heaven" during which the people gathered performed certain acts such as bowing their heads, saying...... middle of paper ......nton c. Caldor (1985), a Connecticut law authorizing a holiday for Sabbath observance was found to violate the Establishment Clause under the Lemon Test because its primary effect was to promote Sabbath-observing Judaism. According to the Galloway decision as well as the other precedents cited above, the turning point appears to be the effect and not the intention of a particular law or act in determining its validity vis-à-vis the establishment clause. It is for this reason that the Circuit Court has held that Establishment Clause cases like Galloway can be fact-rich and defy exact legal formulas. Therefore, the broad principles identified above must be applied to the particular facts of each case. For the reasons given by the court, the Galloway Circuit Court therefore appears to be in order. Works Cited Galloway c. City of Greece, 681 F.3d 20 (2d Cir. 2012)