Washington
(CNN) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from a North
Carolina county that had regularly opened its public meetings with
Christian prayers.
The
church-state dispute is a victory for two Forsyth County residents who
brought suit against the Board of Commissioners. Janet Joyner and
Constance Lynn Blackmon were represented in their court challenge by the
American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of
Church and State.
"When
government meetings are opened regularly with Christian prayer, it sends
the unmistakable message that non-Christians are second-class citizens
in their own community," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, who heads Americans
United, a Washington-based group. "The Constitution clearly forbids
government to play favorites when it comes to religion."
Court records
show that 26 of 33 invocations given at the council meetings in 2007 and
2008 contained references to Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or other
Christian symbols or names. Clergy members from the community often
delivered the sectarian invocations. The county seat is Winston-Salem,
one the largest cities in the state.
A federal
appeals court last year found the prayers to be an unconstitutional
violation of the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which forbids any
government endorsement of one religion over another.
The case is Forsyth County, N.C., v. Joyner (11-546).
MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/17/us/scotus-appeals/index.html?hpt=us_c2
