A federal judge in Maryland ruled on March 26 that the Carroll County commissioners have to stop opening their meetings with prayers to Jesus Christ, the Baltimore Sun reports.
In granting a temporary injunction to plaintiffs who say they feel excluded when the county commissioners pray to a specific deity, US District Judge William D Quarles Jr said he believes the plaintiffs will win their case. The commissioners can continue to seek divine guidance at their meetings, a practice which occurs in many public bodies, but they may not refer to a specific deity by name, such as Jesus.
“The record indicates that the prayers invoked by commissioners before board meetings advance one religion to the exclusion of others,” the judge wrote, adding that the Christian references appeared to be more than “infrequent, occasional, or incidental” and that the Board of Commissioners had done nothing to rein them in, the Sun reported.
“In this case there’s really no more facts to come into evidence,” the paper quoted an attorney for the plaintiffs as saying. “There’s no reason to have a trial. This should be the end of this case.”
Unless the Supreme Court, that is, in granting review of a New York case, has a different opinion and causes a court to revisit the Carroll County decision.
References to a case now before the Supreme Court
Supreme Court: Town of Greece v Galloway
Thirty years ago, in Marsh v Chambers, the Supreme Court held that the Nebraska legislature could begin its legislative sessions with prayers led by a chaplain who was employed by the legislature. But the Court has never settled when legislative prayers go too far and cross the line separating church and state.
Since 1999, the town of Greece, N.Y., which is outside Rochester, has started its town council meetings with a prayer led by members of the local clergy or local residents. In November, in Town of Greece v Galloway, the Court heard oral arguments about whether the town’s prayers are constitutional, but its decision could have a wider impact on the law governing the intersection of church and state.
In a recap of the arguments, the SCOTUS Blog frames the question and the difficulty the justices will have in deciding Town of Greece.
Coverage in the New York Times puts Town of Greece in an interesting perspective, brought out during oral arguments by Justice Samuel Alito. “It’s easy enough to be in favor of a ‘nonsectarian’ prayer before a legislative session — some invocation of a higher power that theoretically doesn’t exclude anyone (besides atheists, that is) — but what exactly does such a prayer sound like?” the Times ponders.
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2 responses to “County commissioners can’t open sessions with Jesus”
A concise Christian perspective on this injunction (and perhaps the Town of Greece case now before the Supreme Court) comes from Len Lazarick, editor of Maryland Reporter.com. He writes:
“Praying in His name is a universal practice among every brand of Christianity, but in this case, you might ask what would Jesus do (WWJD)?
“No need to make up an answer. Here’s what He said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:5-6):
“‘When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.’”
The Supreme Court ruled today that town council meetings may begin with a ceremonial prayer, even if that prayer is highly sectarian in practice. See our report here.