Prayers At Greece Twon Board Meetings OK, Judge Rules

from The Democrat and Chronicle.com and Alliance Defense Fund:

Prayers at Greece Town Board meetings OK, judge rules


Staff reports • August 6, 2010



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TwitterFarkIt Type Size A A A The Greece Town Board can open public meetings with prayer, a federal judge has ruled.









U.S. District Judge Charles Siragusa ruled Thursday that the prayers at the board meeting are not unconstitutional.





“The Town did not begin having prayer at meetings in order to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief,’” Siragusa wrote. “ … The Town’s prayer policy, to the extent that one exists, is to invite clergy from all denominations within the Town, without any guidance or restriction on the content of prayers. The Town will also permit anyone who volunteers to give an invocation, including atheists and members of non-Judeo-Christian religions such as Wicca, and has never denied a request by anyone to deliver a prayer.”





In 2008 Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the town on behalf of residents who objected to the prayers at the board meeting. The town was represented by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys.





In his ruling, Siragusa noted that recent prayers in Congress are largely indistinguishable from those at the Greece meetings.