Attorney General Curtis Hill, as part of a 22-state coalition, is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the practice of lawmaker-led prayer at public meetings.
The coalition filed a brief Wednesday afternoon asking the Supreme Court to hear arguments and confirm the constitutionality of the practice following an adverse ruling by a federal appeals court stemming from a North Carolina case. A follow-up ruling by the Supreme Court would clear confusion among the lower courts and, the coalition hopes, strike down the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which could negatively affect free exercise of religion in Indiana and other states.
“The First Amendment was never intended to prohibit elected officials from praying aloud at official government functions,†Attorney General Hill said. “Our tradition of liberty in America has always promoted and protected the free exercise of religion rather than stifle it.â€
The coalition argues that lawmaker-led prayer is woven into the fabric of American society and is fully consistent with the Constitution. The coalition notes that non-coercive expressions of faith in the public sector have long characterized official public proceedings in the United States. The brief further cites numerous examples nationwide of states, counties and municipalities that open meetings with prayers by government officials.
The North Carolina case, Lund vs. Rowan County, focuses on a tradition among county commissioners of opening meetings with prayers offered by one of the commissioners. The coalition’s friend-of-the-court brief is filed in support of Rowan County.
Indiana filed its brief in support of free expression of faith along with West Virginia, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin, along with the Governor of Kentucky.
