Attorney general weighs in on prayer issue

Virginia’s attorney general has warned localities like the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors to “take heed” of recent rulings against sectarian Christian public prayer.

Delegates Danny Marshall and Donald Merricks had asked Ken Cuccinelli whether opening invocations referring to Jesus Christ at the board’s meetings violated the U.S. Constitution.

Though Cuccinelli’s answer, which cites rulings on sectarian public prayer during meetings, appears ambiguous at times, his conclusion is clear.

“Accordingly, while the determination of whether any particular prayer containing the words ‘Jesus Christ’ would violate the United States Constitution turns on contextual facts not contained in your letter, it is my opinion that government bodies and officers should take heed of recent cases decided in the Fourth Circuit (Court of Appeals),” Cuccinelli wrote in his Dec. 9 letter.

Marshall said Cuccinelli’s conclusion was what he expected.

“It was not surprising,” Marshall said Friday.

Marshall said he forwarded copies of Cuccinelli’s response to the Pittsylvania County and Henry County boards of supervisors and the city of Danville.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia asked the board of supervisors in August to cease holding member-led sectarian Christian prayers during public meetings. The board initially defied the request and the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of an anonymous client, “Jane Doe,” against the county in September.

Arguments were heard in federal court in Danville last month and the two sides were given until Dec. 23 to file briefs fleshing out their arguments on two motions — the board’s motion to dismiss the case and the ACLU’s motion seeking a preliminary injunction to bar supervisors from holding public sectarian prayers at meetings until the case is decided. The judge is expected to rule on the matter at any time.

In its legal fight with Pittsylvania County, the ACLU has cited cases including Wynne v. Town of Great Falls and Joyner v. Forsyth County, saying they establish precedent declaring public sectarian prayer led by governing bodies advancing a particular religion unconstitutional.

Cuccinelli points out in his letter that the majority’s opinion in the Joyner case “notes that ‘the bar for’ a locality in permitting legislative invocations ‘is hardly a high one.’” The court’s majority opinion approves of a locality asking ministers to hold nonsectarian prayers, he wrote.

“The majority assures localities that if some sectarian references are nonetheless made, that courts are not ‘in the business of policing prayers for the occasional sectarian reference,’’ Cuccinelli wrote.

Also, a governing body may have leaders from all religions “come forth,” Cuccinelli wrote.

“In that circumstance, the use of ‘ordinarily…brief sectarian terms, such as references to ‘Jesus’, ‘Allah,’ ‘God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,’ ‘Mohammed,’ and ‘Heavenly Father’ will not be unconstitutional because ‘the prayers, taken as a whole [do] not advance any particular faith,’” he wrote, citing the Joyner case.

Marshall said he hopes to introduce a bill that would lead to a constitutional convention that would eventually allow prayer in public schools and at public meetings in Virginia and in all other states. It would have to pass by a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly and in other states before heading to Congress for a vote.