ACLU of Virginia filed friend-of-the court brief supporting City Council’s policy requiring that meeting-opening prayers be non-sectarian.
Richmond, VA -- Judge James R. Spencer will hear summary judgment arguments tomorrow morning in a case challenging Fredericksburg’s right to require that its meeting-opening prayers be nonsectarian. The Fredericksburg City Council adopted the prayer policy in November 2005 after one of its members, Rev. Hashmel Turner, insisted on opening 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.
Hunton & Williams and People for the American Way are providing direct legal representation to the Fredericksburg City Council. The ACLU of Virginia and Americans United for Separation of Church and State supported the prayer policy with a friend-of-the-court brief.
The roots for the case were established three years ago when a Fredericksburg resident complained to the ACLU of Virginia about Rev. Turner’s sectarian 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 of City Council to adopt a policy permitting sectarian prayers. City Council instead voted to abide by rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals holding that formal prayers conducted at legislative meetings must be nonsectarian.
“From the beginning, the ACLU has made it clear to Rev. Turner that he has a right to express his religious beliefs in private and in public, including during City Council deliberations,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis. “But in those few moments when Rev. Turner offers an official prayer as the voice of the City of Fredericksburg, he must not misuse the power given to him to promote one religion over all others.”
The ACLU of Virginia friend-of-the-court brief is available at http://www.acluva.org/docket/turner.
Contact: Kent Willis, 804/644-8022
