Click here to view original article www.wcjb.com
OCALA, Fla. (NSF) — After a federal judge ruled that a prayer vigil in a town square was unconstitutional, the city of Ocala has taken a long-running lawsuit to a federal appeals court. Attorneys for Ocala last week filed a notice that is a first step in asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a June 26 decision by U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan that the city violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution by organizing and carrying out the prayer vigil. RELATED: ‘It’s a 50/50 shot’: Ocala city leaders appeal judge’s ruling in prayer vigil lawsuit The notice, as is common, did not detail arguments the city will make at the Atlanta-based appeals court. But the American Center for Law & Justice, a national group that is helping represent the city, said last week on its website that the “prayer vigil is consistent with Americans’ longtime tradition of government and private citizens calling and gathering for prayer during difficult times. It is a freedom that our (nation’s) Founders sought to secure, rather than prohibit, through the ratification of the First Amendment.” “Because this case involves an issue of such great legal importance — the role […]