Appeal of anti-prayer ruling urged (OneNewsNow.com)

Appeal of anti-prayer ruling urged (OneNewsNow.com)

onenewsnow.com

Staver: Appeal anti-prayer ruling

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 6/7/2012 3:35:00 AM

A Vermont court has banned prayer at a town meeting, but a constitutional expert believes the decision ought to be appealed.

Local resident Marylyn Hackett filed suit against the town of Franklin for its practice of bringing in a local pastor for a prayer at town meetings. A superior court judge has ruled that it violates the state constitution, it must stop and Hackett can collect damages.

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel says the ruling is "outrageous."
 
"The constitution of Vermont says no person ought to or of right can be compelled to attend any religious worship," Staver tells OneNewsNow. "That's certainly understandable and that's a good provision, but going to an open meeting of the local governing board is not a religious meeting simply because someone opens the meeting with prayer."
 
But that is what the judge ruled, suggesting the meeting then becomes a religious one. Staver says it does not become a religious meeting just because of a prayer.
 
"Secondly, that doesn't mean that she's compelled to attend," the attorney explains. "This is completely a misunderstanding of the Vermont constitution and is a decision that ought to be reversed on appeal."
 
Staver adds that prayer goes back to the very founding of America, where individuals have opened up meetings from the first Continental Congress to the present time. He adds: "It’s not an establishment of religion by any stretch of the imagination."