Category: Religious Freedom

Federal Court Upholds Constitutionality of Ceremonial Prayer

Last week the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision against ceremonial prayers at government meetings.

City councils and quorum courts around the country often open meetings with prayer–a practice that predates the U.S. Constitution itself and has routinely been ruled constitutional.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed an amicus brief supporting public prayer as part of the defense against this lawsuit. Last week her office issued a statement, saying,

September 19, 2016
LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today praised the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for rejecting a district court decision and upholding the constitutional right of lawmakers in deliberative bodies to open meetings with a ceremonial prayer. The district court concluded that lawmaker-led prayer was not protected under the Constitution.

“It is a time-honored practice, dating back to the founding of this nation for deliberative bodies, led by a lawmaker, to open a meeting with a prayer,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “I know that this practice is no different in Arkansas, and this victory helps protect lawmaker-led prayer to open meetings in cities and counties across our State and across the country.”

Rutledge was part of a 13-state coalition, led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, that filed an amicus brief in support of a North Carolina county’s practice of opening its meeting with a prayer offered by commissioners.

The attorneys general brief illustrated that numerous states, counties and municipalities open each meeting with a lawmaker-led prayer and if the lower court’s decision was allowed to stand, many of these governing bodies would be forced to hire a full-time chaplain or recruit volunteer clergy to lead a prayer, which many can simply not afford.

In addition to West Virginia and Arkansas, the brief was signed by attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

READ MORE

Arkansas A.G. Signs Amicus Brief in Defense of Religious Liberty

Last week Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office signed an amicus brief in the case of Trinity Lutheran v. Pauley.

In a nutshell, the case has to do with whether or not a religious organization can be barred from participating in programs available to other organizations simply because the organization happens to be religious. This particular case centers on, of all things, a type of recycling program in which scrap tires are used to provide safe, rubber surfaces on children’s playgrounds in Missouri.

Alliance Defending Freedom writes,

“The [amicus] briefs support a church-run preschool and daycare center that the state of Missouri said is qualified for the program, which provides reimbursement for recycled tire products to surface children’s playgrounds, but then disqualified from the program anyway only because the church is religious.”

Of course the real question, here, is not so much about recycled tires as it is about the State of Missouri trying to discriminate against churches and religious organizations in its public programs.

The amicus brief signed by Attorney General Rutledge’s office reads in part,

Missouri claims that its Scrap Tire Program serves to convert old rubber into a safer environment for all Missourians, from those who live near dump sites to children who fall on softer surfaces. So why is it relevant that an applicant for such a grant happens to be a church?

The answer is very simple: It isn’t relevant. Being religious does not disqualify a person or organizations from participation in public life, plain and simple.

If you would like to thank the Arkansas Attorney General for standing up for religious liberty, you can call her office at (501) 682-2007.

READ MORE