ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County Commissioner Ben Moss opened the July 11 board meeting by leading the prayer. Three days later, he would have been in violation of a recent court decision.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that found the Rowan County Board of Commissioners’ prayer practice to be “unconstitutionally coercive,” the Associated Press reported July 14.

However, court records show the practice of the Rowan commissioners was different than here.

“The prayer practice served to identify the government with Christianity and risked conveying to citizens of minority faiths a message of exclusion,” Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote in the majority opinion that was joined by nine other judges.

“And because the commissioners were the exclusive prayer-givers, Rowan County’s invocation practice falls well outside the more inclusive, minister-oriented practice of legislative prayer described in (Town of Greece v. Galloway),” he continued. “Indeed, if elected representatives invite their constituents to participate in prayers invoking a single faith for meeting upon meeting, year after year, it is difficult to imagine constitutional limits to sectarian prayer practice.”

The court went on to point out that instead of drawing on “the tradition tradition of legislative prayer that reflects the respect of each faith for other faiths and the aspiration, common to so many creeds, of finding higher meaning and deeper purpose in these fleeting moments each of us spends upon this earth…Rowan County elevated one religion above all others and aligned itself with that faith.”

The dissenting opinion accused the majority of misapplying a recent U.S. Supreme Court case and said the practice was constitutional: “The lawmaker’s mere status as a prayer giver is viewed with immediate skepticism, and any sectarian content to his or her prayers is deemed to have an added coercive effect. Moreover, the majority refrains from providing any guidelines as to when, if ever, lawmaker-led legislative prayers can meet their newly minted constitutional standards.”

The full 4th Circuit heard the case in March after a divided three-judge panel said Rowan County commissioners had a constitutional right to open meetings with prayers as long as they don’t pressure observers to participate.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of non-Christians who say the prayers made them feel excluded and sent the message that the board favored a particular religion.

Moss said he likes the idea of a prayer before a meeting, but added that visitors aren’t asked or forced to take part.

“You don’t want anybody to feel uncomfortable,” he said. “If somebody chooses not to pray or take part in it, they have the option to excuse themselves.”

The county board often asks local pastors to deliver a prayer at the beginning of each meeting, but sometimes they can’t make it for personal reasons, Moss said. That’s when he usually volunteers, as he did last week.

The city councils of both Rockingham and Hamlet also ask members of the clergy to deliver the invocation.

Steve Morris said that in his six years as mayor of Rockingham, he could only think of one time a pastor wasn’t at a meeting and, to the best of his recollection, Councilman Gene Willard said the prayer.

Hamlet Mayor Bill Bayless said that in the past, former councilman Tony Clewis would occasionally say the prayer.

“It doesn’t make sense to me why you would allow a pastor to do it, but not let an elected official do it,” Morris said, adding, “But I’m not on the bench.”

Bayless said, per the ruling, the town would have to “make an extra effort” to get members of the clergy to attend the meetings.

All three elected officials said their respective boards have not yet discussed what to do in case no member of the clergy is available.

The Charlotte Observer reported that some legal experts expect the case to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The AP reported that a divided three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Jackson County (Michigan) Board of Commissioners’ tradition of Christian-only prayers was unconstitutional. The full 6th Circuit heard arguments in the case last month.

If the two circuits split, the Supreme Court may feel more compelled to take up the issue.

Former Daily Journal editor Corey Friedman, now at the Wilson Times, has often opined for a moment of silence as a compromise.

“We voted for tax collectors, not spiritual shepherds, when we went to the ballot box,” he wrote in an editorial that ran in the Daily Journal on July 15. “Opening meetings with a moment of silence would be the best way to respect attendees’ individual rights under the First Amendment’s free-exercise clause. Elected officials and members of the public could all lead their own silent prayers, with no one setting the parameters for anyone else.”

Moss would likely be OK with that.

“Whether we have a public prayer or not,” he said, “I’m going to be praying to myself.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reach William R. Toler at 910-817-2675.

Bayless
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_billbayless.jpgBayless

Moss
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_benmossmug.jpgMoss

Morris
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_stevemorrismug-1.jpgMorris

Daily Journal file photo Local municipal boards have not yet discussed what to do if no member of the clergy is available to lead a pre-meeting prayer, following a recent court decision.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_prayerillustration.jpgDaily Journal file photo Local municipal boards have not yet discussed what to do if no member of the clergy is available to lead a pre-meeting prayer, following a recent court decision.

By William R. Toler

[email protected]