Richmond, VA -- U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer has ruled that the Fredericksburg City Council’s policy requiring its meeting-opening prayers to be non-sectarian is constitutional. The City Council adopted the prayer policy in November 2005 after one of its members, Rev. Hashmel Turner, insisted on opening council meetings with a formal Christian prayer.
The policy drew the attention of the Rutherford Institute, which sued Fredericksburg on Rev. Turner’s behalf, claiming that he was being denied the right to deliver the prayer of his choice. During oral arguments on August 3, Judge Spencer foreshadowed today’s decision when he told Rutherford Institute lawyers that they had a “high mountain to climb” if they expected to prevail in the case.
Relying on established legal precedents holding that legislative meetings may begin with formal prayers only if they are non-sectarian, Spencer wrote that the invocation at the beginning of Fredericksburg City Council meetings is “government speech” and therefore cannot be used to promote a particular religion.
“People can practice whatever particular religion they want in this country,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis, “but the government must not express a preference for any one religion over others. If we allow formal prayers at public meetings to be sectarian, we undermine religious equality by giving the government the ability to play religious favorites.”
“This ruling only affects those few moments when a member of a governing body is called upon to deliver a prayer on behalf of the government,” added Willis. “Rev. Turner is still free to express his sectarian religious beliefs at any other time, including during the course of city council meetings.”
The roots of this case were established three years ago when a Fredericksburg resident complained to the ACLU about Turner’s Christian prayers at the beginning of City Council meetings. After the ACLU intervened, Turner twice stopped participating in the prayer ceremony, but then asked fellow members to allow him to deliver sectarian prayers. The ACLU warned City Council that a lawsuit would be filed if it permitted such prayers. On advice from its attorney, City Council voted to abide by legal precedents and ban sectarian prayers.
Hunton & Williams and People for the American Way provided direct legal representation to the Fredericksburg City Council. Judge Spencer’s opinion is available at http://www.acluva.org/docket/turner.html.
Contact: Kent Willis, office, 804/644-8022
