Judge: No Prayers Before Pittsylvania Co. Meetings

Back to HomePage
Updated: 9:59 AM Feb 4, 2012 Judge: No Prayers Before Pittsylvania Co. Meetings DANVILLE, Va. (AP) A federal judge is barring the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors from opening meetings with Christian prayers until a lawsuit challenging the practice is settled. Posted: 9:59 AM Feb 4, 2012

Font Size:

February 4, 2012

A federal judge is barring the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors from opening meetings with Christian prayers until a lawsuit challenging the practice is settled.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael F. Urbanski on Friday issued a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit. He also denied Pittsylvania County's request to dismiss the case.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in September on behalf of a resident who has regularly attended board meetings for the past three years and wished to remain anonymous.

The lawsuit accused the board of opening meetings with Christian
prayers in violation of the Constitution.

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors has said that the suit doesn't have any merit.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Drew Location: Charlottesville on Feb 4, 2012 at 09:02 PM

The Constitution does, however, prohibit the establishment of religion by government. When a governmental body convenes a session by invoking a specific deity, i.e., Jesus Christ, case law is extremely well-settled that they violate the establishment clause. If a local government wishes to have a prayer at their meetings, they simply need to make sure the prayer is non-denominational.

Posted by: Dave Location: PR of Cville on Feb 4, 2012 at 01:46 PM

Funny how the libs cite the Constitution when it serves their purpose but ignore it whenever it poses an "inconvenience." Oh, well.. I guess I'll never be smart enough to understand the liberal mindset. BTW, there's nothing in the Constitution that bans prayer in public or governmental settings. There is, however, something in the Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion and free speech.

Click here to post or read all 2 comments.