A federal judge wants to hear oral arguments on Oct. 14 in a legal dispute over public prayers said before meetings of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.
Those involved in the case had thought the judge would make a ruling this spring.
"It kind of varies by judge and the judge may be super-busy," said Katherine Parker, the American Civil Liberties Union attorney who is representing two Forsyth County plaintiffs in the case.
The suit, filed in March 2007, alleges that the county is promoting Christianity because ministers giving the invocation at commission meetings typically invoke the name of Jesus.
The county contends that its policies do not endorse any particular religion over another and that it offers representatives of all faiths the chance to volunteer to lead the prayer.
To the plaintiffs, the prayers are government speech and the county has a duty to control their content. The county is arguing that the prayers are the speech of private persons in a public forum and that there's no obligation to control their content.
Both sides presented their last written arguments in the case in mid-May. The county is being defended by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has fought similar ACLU suits elsewhere.
On May 26 both sides filed a motion asking for the court to hear oral arguments in the case.
Michael Johnson, the lead ADF attorney for the county, said that both sides are ready to argue the case and get a ruling.
"I'm frustrated that it is going to take that long," Johnson said, referring to the judge's timetable.
In December, county commissioners declined an ACLU offer to settle the case in exchange for paying the ACLU $60,000 in legal fees and agreeing to ban prayers with sectarian references.
The board was divided on fighting the suit in 2007 and remains divided today. Board Chairman Dave Plyler, a moderate Republican, is considered the swing vote on the seven-member board. So far he's been willing to keep fighting the suit.
Plyler said that the delay doesn't affect his thinking. Although Plyler said he would be disinclined to keep fighting the suit if the judge rules against the county, he will wait until the judge makes his ruling to make a decision.
"The bottom line is that he (the judge) is going to hear it," Plyler said. "As long as it is in the courts, you don't know what they will do."
■ Wesley Young can be reached at 727-7369 or at wyoung@wsjournal.com.
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