NORTH CAROLINA — (AP) A federal appeals court is wrestling with whether it matters if a prayer opening a government meeting is led by local clergy or an elected official.
The full 15-judge bench of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday in a case challenging a North Carolina county commission’s practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers.
Allyson Ho is an attorney for Rowan County. She told the judges that the only difference between this case and the legislative prayer practice previously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court is that the commissioners are the ones reciting them.
The Supreme Court has ruled in 2014 that it’s appropriate for local clergy to deliver predominantly Christian prayers and town meetings in New York.
Chris Brook is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. Brook says the Rowan County practice goes beyond what the Supreme Court has deemed constitutional.
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