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PARKERSBURG, W. Va. — One of the nation’s most conspicuous Church-State separation groups has filed a lawsuit against a city in West Virginia in an effort to stop city council members from opening public meetings with the Lord’s Prayer.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), along with two local atheist members of the organization, filed suit on Tuesday against the City of Parkersburg, asserting that the practice violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The clause reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”
The lawsuit states that the two complainants, Daryl Cobranchi and Eric Engle, feel uncomfortable and like outsiders when the prayer is recited because they decline to stand and join in the recitation.
“During council meetings that Mr. Cobranchi attended, he was conspicuous by not standing and not reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Mr. Cobranchi felt pressure to participate in the prayer because the city council members and many attendees stood and recited the Lord’s Prayer in unison,” it outlines.
“The council’s recitations of the Lord’s Prayer have made council meetings very uncomfortable for Mr. Engle. He feels excluded and has observed that others who do not participate in standing during the prayer or reciting the Lord’s Prayer appear to be excluded,” the legal challenge states.
Cobranchi has discontinued attending the meetings as a result, but desires to return.
Parkersburg City Council has reportedly conducted the practice for the past decade, which is followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
FFRF sent a letter of complaint to then-Council President J.R. Carpenter in 2015, and received a response from the city attorney outlining that the council had been advised, “1. Any prayer should be conducted (and as it already is) prior to calling the meeting to order; 2. The public should not be invited to stand or otherwise participate in the prayer; and 3. No elected official should lead the prayer.”
FFRF argues that it does not matter that the prayer is recited before the meeting is called to order, and notes that city council members continue to lead the Lord’s Prayer at each meeting and sometimes ask attendees to stand.“The city […]