A young woman, who topped her class at Washington Community High School, and her parents filed a lawsuit in Peoria, Illinois, to ask a federal judge to block school-sanctioned prayers at the graduation ceremony, where she was due to address the gathering.

A group of Washington High seniors first raised concerns with school officials about the inclusion of an invocation and benediction during the graduation ceremony.

"The cause of educating young persons is not advanced when students are subjected to prayer officially sanctioned and orchestrated by school officials," said Pamela Sumners, of staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.