Rick Perry's campaign clarified why the Texas governor cited "eight unelected" judges during a Des Moines Register editorial board meeting Friday.

The campaign said Perry was referring to the eight justices who voted that school sponsored Bible readings are unconstitutional in the 1963 Supreme Court case Abbington School District v. Schempp.  Only one justice voted that it was constitutional.

Perry discussed his opposition to activist judges during his editorial board meeting and explained that local school districts, not the Supreme Court, should be able to decide whether prayer is allowed in schools.

"For Washington to tell a local school district that you cannot have a prayer and a time of prayer in that school is I think offensive to most Americans.  I trust the people of the states to make those decisions. I trust those independent school districts to make those decisions better than eight unelected and frankly unaccountable judges," Perry said Friday.