. >> the plaintiffs in the case, linda stephens, who is an atheist and susan gal galloway who is jewish said the prayers are coercive. >> you can't participate in a prayer before you stand up to take discretionary action that affects you personally. this is highly coercive, also a sectarian endorsement. this case is about christians aggressively imposing themselves on their fellow citizens with the power of government. >> the justices appear to be split along ideological lines with conservative justices scal scalia and alito supportive of the board. the prayers of the opening congress were highly sectarian much like those in greece, new york. >> when the first amendment was ratified in 1971, the country was mostly protestant unlike today when countless religions are represented. several justices pointed out that crafting a prayer today that doesn't offend somebody could be daunting if not impossible. for "religion & ethics newsweekly," i'm tim o'brien at the supreme court. >> the court's decision is not expected until spring. >>> a u.s. military judge has ordered the government to

. >> the plaintiffs in the case, linda stephens, who is an atheist and susan gal galloway who is jewish said the prayers are coercive. >> you can't participate in a prayer before you stand up to take discretionary action that affects you personally. this is highly coercive, also a sectarian endorsement. this case is about christians aggressively imposing themselves on their fellow citizens with the power of government. >> the justices appear to be split along ideological lines with conservative justices scal scalia and alito supportive of the board. the prayers of the opening congress were highly sectarian much like those in greece, new york. >> when the first amendment was ratified in 1971, the country was mostly protestant unlike today when countless religions are represented. several justices pointed out that crafting a prayer today that doesn't offend somebody could be daunting if not impossible. for "religion & ethics newsweekly," i'm tim o'brien at the supreme court. >> the court's decision is not expected until spring. >>> a u.s. military judge has ordered the government to

two greece residents-- linda stephens, an atheist; and susan galloway, who is jewish-- say for any governing body to begin its sessions with such prayers violates that first amendment ban. >> i think for the protection of government, as well as for the protection of religion, they need to be separate. i think when government gets involved in religion, it corrupts religion. and i think when religion gets involved with government, it can corrupt government. >> reporter: a federal appeals court in new york sided with galloway, noting that roughly two-thirds of the prayers offered contained references to jesus christ, jesus, "your son" or the "holy spirit." >> greece is opening its meetings with a presentation that is uniquely christian in an environment where people have come to petition the government. from the time the prayer practice started in 1999, up until the end of 2007-- an eight-year time period-- they had nobody but christian clergy. >> reporter: the lower court found that of more than 130 prayers offered, only four had been offered by non-christians. the impact of all this is unclea

. >> reporter: tall blood from stephen and linda riley. none from a suspect. and nonetheless they needed to focus on their son matthew. >> and they believe that there is no evidence that will be pointing to them. they let him go free until two years later when they discovered a silent witness. and the dog, the tan one on the left. the evidence, a single dog hair found in their boots. >> that's the idea for them that they most likely, you know, killed. >> and then put the boots on to make the getaway, which they were not found on the roof of the apartment building where he used to live. the dog hair tested, showing a 90% chance of belonging to winston. introduced in court and for the first time in san francisco county, animal dna was used to convict a killer. >> and in this case, their hair linked him to what he had hidden. and that is one of the reasons that he knew and that the boots, they believe that it was somehow on out there to the crime. >> they've been used for three high-profile convictions in california and the veterinary lab at uc davis that they do