METAIRIE - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says the idea of religious neutrality is not grounded in the country's constitutional traditions and that God has been good to the U.S. exactly because Americans honor him.

Scalia was speaking Saturday at Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie, Louisiana.

Scalia, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, has consistently been one of the court's more conservative members.

He told the audience at the Catholic school that there is "no place" in the country's constitutional traditions for the idea that the state must be neutral between religion and its absence.

He also said there is "nothing wrong" with the idea of presidents and others invoking God in speeches. He said God has been good to America because Americans have honored him.