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Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors refused to allow Wiccan to deliver invocation
In a surprising and disappointing decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled that Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors may exclude a broad segment of the religious community from the list of ministers allowed to open its meetings with a prayer.
In the case, the ACLU of Virginia represents Cynthia Simpson, a Wiccan, who in 2002 asked to be placed on the list of religious leaders invited to deliver the invocation at meetings of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors.
Simpson later received a letter from a Chesterfield County Attorney Steven L. Micas stating that only religious leaders who practice a religion within the Judeo-Christian tradition are allowed to participate.
“This is a deeply disturbing ruling,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis. “No matter how you turn the facts, in the end the Chesterfield County board of supervisors, a governmental entity, is endorsing the Judeo-Christian religious tradition while discriminating against all other religions. This kind of government preference for some religions over others is exactly what our founding fathers sought to avoid when they gave us First Amendment.”
In July 2003 U.S. District Court magistrate judge Dennis W. Dohnal ruled that by preferring some religions over others, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors violated the constitutional mandate for separation of church and state and discriminated against minority religions. The judge ordered the County to change the policy to include all faiths or to stop using the policy altogether. Instead, Chesterfield County appealed.
The letter Simpson received from Micas included the following:
"Chesterfield 's non-sectarian invocations are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition. Based upon our review of Wicca, it is neo-pagan and invokes polytheistic, pre-Christian deities. Accordingly, we cannot honor your request to be included on the list of religious leaders that are invited to provide invocations at the meetings of the Board of Supervisors."
The case is Simpson v. Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. An electronic copy of he Fourth Circuit’s ruling is available from the ACLU of Virginia. Please send your request to acluva@acluva.org
ACLU of Virginia Contacts: Kent Willis, Executive Director Rebecca K. Glenberg, Legal Director 804-644-8022