Fredericksburg, USA - A City Council member who sued to invoke Jesus' name in prayers at meetings will likely appeal a judge's ruling that the council's nonsectarian policy does not violate his rights.
U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer of Richmond wrote in his ruling Monday that the prayers offered by council members on a rotating basis are government speech, not private speech, in part because the prayers are given in their official capacity during meetings.
Councilman Hashmel C. Turner Jr., who is also a Baptist minister, sued his council colleagues over the issue, claiming the policy violated his free-speech and religious rights.
The judge, however, cited precedent in determining that sectarian prayer under such circumstances is prohibited under the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. The clause, in the First Amendment, states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof.
"Contrary to Councilor Turner's assertions, the ultimate responsibility for the content of the speech rests upon the City Council on whose behalf the prayer is offered," Spencer wrote in the 10-page ruling.
Turner said yesterday that he was neither surprised nor discouraged by the judge's decision.
"I'm not surprised that that would be the first ruling," he said. "It's not the end. It's more a beginning. . . . I'm in it for the long haul."
John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, which filed the lawsuit on Turner's behalf in January, said the councilman and the Charlottesville-based group probably would appeal the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Whitehead has previously said the case is one that could make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judith E. Schaeffer, deputy legal director of People For the American Way Foundation, called Turner's lawsuit meritless.
"The council's approach is not only constitutional, it also reflects the fact that the council represents all Fredericksburg residents, regardless of their faith," she said in a statement.
People For the American Way and the Richmond law firm of Hunton & Williams provided legal representation to the City Council. The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief in the case.
Turner initially stopped giving prayers after the ACLU's Virginia chapter threatened legal action in July 2003 after an individual complained.
The council adopted the nonsectarian policy in November. Later that month, Fredericksburg Mayor Thomas J. Tomzak removed Turner from the prayer rotation because the mayor believed Turner would not abide by the policy, the lawsuit alleges.
City officials have said they would be inviting a lawsuit from the public if council members were allowed to invoke Jesus' name, and they cite past court rulings.
"I'm very empathetic with Reverend Turner on this issue. But I had to do what was in the best interest of the city," Tomzak said yesterday.