Federal Appeals Court Tackles Christian Prayer at North Carolina Meetings
A federal appeals court will decide on whether North Carolina government officials' practice of holding Christian prayers at meetings is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wants the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the lower court's ruling that says the Rowan Country Commissioner violated the Constitution by holding exclusively Christian prayers during meetings. Wednesday marked the first time that a federal appeals court has tackled the issue of Christian prayers at meetings since the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of the local government in another case in 2014, according to ABC News.
The Supreme Court previously ruled that the local clergy's practice of delivering mostly Christian prayers during town meetings in New York is not unconstitutional. The main issue to be tackled by the federal appeals court is whether the commissioner's practice of saying the prayers and inviting the audience to join them is coercive or not, the report explains.
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ACLU lawyer Chris Brook said the commissioners were proselytizing and that they should have said prayers that would benefit only themselves instead of inviting the audience to participate. The original lawsuit that the union filed alleges that almost all prayers delivered at Rowan County Commission meetings from 2007 to 2013 were Christian, Trib Live reports.
However, Judges Dennis W. Shedd and G. Steven Agee pointed out that some residents who were invited to stand and join the commissioners in prayer could choose to either remain in their seat or leave during prayer time.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, on the other hand, said the issue lies not on the prayer itself but on the setting. He highlighted the fact that the commissioners themselves are the ones delivering the prayers Christian prayers.
"The prayers are eloquent and beautiful," said Judge Wilkinson. "The problem is the setting, which is the most basic unit of government, which affects the lives of all citizens — not just one particular faith."
The federal appeals court is expected to come up with the decision regarding Christian prayers at meetings within the next few weeks. The decision will reflect how well the Supreme Court's ruling in 2014 is being applied.
