In the case of Karcher v. May, 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that New Jersey's policy of allowing a moment of silence in public schools for "quiet and private contemplation or introspection" was constitutional but its law permitting students to observe a minute of silence for prayer was not. The court held that legislative intent mattered when assessing whether such laws violated the Establishment Clause - which prohibits government from making any law respecting an establishment of religion or impeding free exercise thereof - and found that New Jersey's statute had been enacted with an improper purpose to advance religion. Furthermore, it determined former Speaker Alan Karcher lacked standing to appeal because he left office before doing so; only someone with official capacity could defend state statutes on behalf.

In the dissenting opinion for Karcher v. May, Justice White argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings and unnecessarily limited legislative power. He contended that New Jersey legislators had a legitimate interest in defending their state law against constitutional challenge and should have been allowed to intervene when the state attorney general declined to appeal. According to Justice White, this ruling could discourage lawmakers from passing potentially controversial legislation out of fear they would not be able to defend it in court if necessary. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's interpretation of standing doctrine, arguing instead that legislators should be considered injured parties when laws they passed are invalidated by lower courts without full appellate review.