Board of Supervisors’ policy excludes all non- Judeo-Christian prayers at meetings

The ACLU of Virginia warned Chesterfield County today that the process it uses to choose public prayers offered at meetings of the Board of Supervisors violates the Constitution by discriminating on the basis of religion. The ACLU believes that the policy also violates the free speech and the establishment clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
The ACLU learned recently that Chesterfield County officials turned down the request of Wiccan priestess Cyndi Simpson to have her name placed on the list of ministers allowed to pray at board meetings. In a letter to Ms. Simpson, Chesterfield County attorney Steven L. Micas wrote that only “Judeo-Christian” prayers were allowed at the meetings. Wicca, whose roots predate Judaism, is not considered part of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
“Chesterfield County ’s prayer policy not only discriminates against Wiccans,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis, “but all religions that fall outside the Judeo-Christian tradition. This means that Buddhism, Hinduism Islam, and many other religions practiced in Chesterfield County will never be represented with a prayer at meetings of the Board of Supervisors.
“If I lived in Chesterfield County and I practiced a religion not within the Judeo-Christian tradition,” added Willis, “I would not feel welcome at meetings of my own governing body.”
In a letter sent earlier today to the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors, ACLU of Virginia legal director Rebecca Glenberg, writes: “This situation brings into focus the wisdom of the Framers of the First Amendment, who recognized the political divisiveness inherent in government sponsorship of religion. The Board of Supervisors apparently does not want to include prayers in its regular meetings that it deems erroneous or odd. This is easily – and constitutionally – accomplished by eliminating prayer as a part of the meetings”.
“If, however, the Board insists on having prayers offered by members of the community,” continues Glenberg, “ it may not impose its own religious preferences by excluding those religions that it finds objectionable.”
Ms. Simpson has not sought assistance from the ACLU of Virginia.
A copy of Ms. Glenberg’s letter to the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors follows.

Contacts: Kent Willis or Rebecca K. Glenberg, Esq.; 804-644-8022