Members of the Texas House stand for a prayer as the House begins a special session, Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) **FILE** more > A justice of the peace in Montgomery County, Texas, can continue opening sessions with prayers from volunteer chaplains while a lawsuit by an atheist group proceeds in federal court, a Fifth Circuit judge has ordered. Judge Wayne Mack , who is both a justice of the peace and the county coroner in Montgomery County, regularly recognizes a volunteer chaplain before proceedings in his courtroom. Conroe, the county seat, is approximately 40 miles north of Houston. The chaplains — Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Islamic — offer either “encouraging words” or a prayer. A bailiff then leads the courtroom in the Pledge of Allegiance, documents indicate. Participation in both elements is voluntary, and those in the courtroom are told by the bailiff they can exit to be called back when the court is in session. Despite these safeguards, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, or FFRF, filed a complaint in 2014 against Judge Mack . Ultimately, the FFRF sued the judge in his personal capacity, claiming the ceremony “flies in […]
