By Vincent J. Swanson

Managing Editor

With a little nudge from the Prince George's County Council, Jesus Christ has officially chosen sides in county politics.

A Prince George's County employee opened a session of a county council meeting recently with a sectarian prayer—invoking the name of Jesus Christ—but according to various court rulings, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the county government has violated federal law.

"Our father, who art in heaven, we thank you so much for this time...[and] that we could gather once again, Lord...Jesus," said county employee Bonnie Humphreys during the council invocation on October 5. "Please Lord, be with each member as each bill is presented, Lord...in Jesus' name, amen."

Once Humphreys finished her prayer, the entire council chamber, including guests with bowed heads and hands folded, replied in unison, "Amen."

Since its return from recess in early September, to its final days in December, the county council had consistently used Christian invocations to open several legislative sessions.

Although municipalities allow sectarian prayer prior to legislative business—and many do nationwide—federal law states that guest speakers should say the prayer, and according to one court ruling the practice should represent all faiths, rotating among chaplains, rabbis, or imams. But the council used only Christian prayers during its latest legislative term, which under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, suggests that the county government is advancing one religion over another.

According to an internal memo obtained by The Sentinel, staff attorneys with the Attorney General of Maryland debated the issue of legislative prayer at length in September 2003. Citing the Rubin v. Burbank court decision (Cal. App. 2002) Attorney General Joseph Curran's office wrote, "a prayer offered before the City Council of Burbank that specifically mentioned Jesus" violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. "Prayers before the City Council were offered by volunteers from a nondenominational group in the area, rather than a person chosen by the legislators, and there had previously been no review of the invocations prior to the time that they were delivered," state attorneys argued in the memo. "The lower court had declared that the prayer in question violated the Establishment Clause and issued an injunction prohibiting the inclusion of sectarian prayer in City Council meetings."

The memo concluded that the appeals court agreed, "noting that the clearest command of the Establishment Clause is not to favor one religion over another." The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied certiorari, allowing the ruling to stand thereby saying the prayer violated the U.S. Constitution.

"A number of cases, including the most recent ruling by the [U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th District] states that sectarian prayers at council invocations violate the Establishment Clause," said David Rocah, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Maryland. "These types of sectarian prayers are a way of telling full members of a community that they don't belong," Rocah explained.

This past July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th District ruled that the town of Great Falls in South Carolina—when invoking the name of Jesus Christ during council meetings—was violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Darla Kaye Wynne, a Great Falls resident and the plaintiff in the case, said that she felt compelled to bow and pray to Jesus Christ when attending council meeting, saying "that the mention of Jesus Christ was a promotion of the Christian religion" a religion that she did not follow or believe. The American Jewish Congress; Americans United for Separation of Church and State, as did the state of South Carolina, supported Wynne's claim, filing as a friend of the court (amicus curiae) in the case.

Although Wynne had persevered through many of the Christian-led council meetings, even saying she too would stand and bow her head during prayer because she "wanted to show respect" to others, she eventually objected to the council's continual practice and filed suit. She even suggested an alternative, proposing that the prayer's reference be limited to 'God' instead of Jesus Christ. But according to court documents, the town's mayor, Henry Clayton Starnes, said in response, "This is the way we've always done things, and we're not going to change."

Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz disagreed with Starnes and ruled in favor of the plaintiff, writing that the town of Great Falls "violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."