Court rules against Rowan commissioners’ prayers

A federal judge in Winston-Salem ruled Monday that the Rowan County Board of Commissioners’ practice of opening public meetings with their own Christian prayers between 2007 and 2013 violated the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. District Judge James Beaty of the Middle District of North Carolina wrote in his decision that the prayers advanced the commissioners’ Christian faith at the exclusion of other religions and effectively coerced participation by members of the public attending the meetings. Beaty also made permanent a temporary injunction from 2013 that forbade the commissioners from delivering their own prayers before the meetings.

“When plaintiffs wish to advocate for local issues in front of the board, they should not be faced with the choice between staying seated and unobservant, or acquiescing in the prayer practice of the board,” Beaty wrote. “The board’s practice fails to be non-discriminatory, entangles government with religion, and over time establishes a pattern of prayers that tends to advance the Christian faith of the elected commissioners at the expense of any religious denomination unrepresented by the majority.”

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a case involving the Town of Greece, N.Y., ruled that public prayer before meetings – even when it’s mostly Christian – is OK if clergy and others of various faiths are permitted to deliver prayers. But Beaty ruled that the Rowan County commissioners, who delivered the prayers themselves, often referring to Jesus, fell outside that high court ruling.

“While an all-comers policy is not necessarily required, a nondiscriminatory one is,” Beaty wrote. “When all faiths but those of the five elected commissioners are excluded, the policy inherently discriminates and disfavors religious minorities.”

The ruling was hailed by the ACLU of North Carolina, which had filed a lawsuit challenging the commissioners’ prayer practice on behalf of several residents.

One of those plaintiffs, Nan Lund, said in a statement Monday that “Rowan County is home to people of many different beliefs, and I think our officials should embrace that diversity and make public meetings as inclusive as possible.”

Rowan County commissioners were meeting Monday afternoon, and could not be reached for comment on the ruling.

WBTV, the Observer’s news partner, quoted a Facebook posting after the Monday ruling by former commissioner Jon Barber. “There are those who will agree with me and those who don't,” he wrote. “This legal ruling will not deter me from my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Court rules against Rowan commissioners’ prayers."