Bill attempts to reverse effects of recent court case holding that prayers at city council meetings may not favor any particular religion.
Richmond, VA – The House of Delegates will vote today on a bill that permits sectarian prayers at events sponsored by the State Police, a violation of legal precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ACLU is asking members of the House to reject HB 2314 and is prepared to mount a legal challenge should it become law and lead to prayers in which representatives of the State Police offer sectarian prayers at government events.
HB 2314, introduced by Delegate Charles W. Carrico, Sr., prevents the Superintendent of State Police from regulating the religious content of prayers offered by its chaplains at police-sponsored events. Carrico’s bill would reverse a State Police policy, adopted last year, requiring police chaplains to offer only nonsectarian prayers at police-sponsored events.
“The courts have made it clear that in those instances where the government is offering a prayer, the prayer must not favor one religion over others,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. “Delegate Carrico is correct to vigorously defend his individual right to express his personal religious beliefs, and he would find a strong ally in the ACLU in such situations. But when a prayer is given by an official representing the government, it is the government’s view of religion that must be expressed -- which is that all religions must be treated equally under the law.”
Carrico’s bill is a reaction to a Virginia lawsuit recently addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, Turner v. Fredericksburg, the Supreme Court allowed to stand a 2008 Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding that Fredericksburg City Council had the authority to prevent one of its members from opening council meetings with sectarian prayers. The Fourth Circuit had based its decision on an earlier Supreme Court case upholding the right to open legislative meetings with prayer, but only if the prayers are nonsectarian. After the Fourth Circuit’s ruling, State Police Col. Stephen Flaherty ordered police chaplains to give only nonsectarian prayers at events sponsored by the State Police. The Governor later supported Flaherty’s decision.
A similar Senate bill, SB 1072 (Martin) addresses prayers at any public event sanctioned by government agencies, not just the State Police.
The ACLU’s memo to legislators may be found at this link: http://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/20090204-Police-Chaplan-Bill.pdf.
Contact: Kent Willis, 804/644-8022
