Board Heard Sectarian Prayers, Despite Neutral Policy 
By
Published: August 2, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III
When a religious leader’s invocation at a county board of commissioners’ meeting referred to Jesus Christ and other tenets of the Christian faith, that prayer typified the board’s allowance of sectarian opening prayers at its meetings, and the 4th Circuit affirms a district court decision that the board’s legislative prayer policy violates the Establishment Clause.
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