Hundreds of people may turn out for Monday night's meeting of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, when the board is scheduled to vote on whether to appeal a federal-court ruling that stopped sectarian prayer before board meetings.
With the board split 3-3, the decision will come down to how board Chairman Dave Plyler votes.
Plyler was in negotiations late last week with the Rev. Steve Corts, the leader of a local organization that is encouraging the county to appeal the prayer decision. The N.C. Partnership for Religious Liberty, which Corts heads, recently pledged $100,000 to help the county appeal the case. The group had earlier banked $55,000 to help the county.
A national group called the Alliance Defense Fund has paid the county's legal bills so far, and is offering to back the county on appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and even to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But the ADF won't pay any legal expenses awarded to the plaintiffs if the county ultimately loses, and for Plyler, that's the catch. Plyler has been telling supporters of an appeal that he needs a written guarantee that the suit will not cost the county any money.
Citizens with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the county in 2007 for allowing prayer givers to make sectarian references -- the mention of Jesus, specifically -- in invocations before board meetings.
A federal district judge recently agreed with the plaintiffs and ordered the county to stop sectarian references. The ACLU wants about $125,000 in legal expenses from the county, but many local people are telling commissioners to appeal instead.
Plyler and Corts both said Friday that they expected to talk more over the weekend and even into Monday if needed, but as of Friday, they still had not reached an agreement.
Plyler said he told Corts late last week that if the group raises $500,000 to cover the county's costs, he would feel comfortable voting to appeal -- though Plyler has said all along that it is not the amount of money the group raises that is important. What Plyler wants -- and the citizens' group hasn't given -- is a pledge to keep the legal action cost-free to the county.
Friday evening, Plyler said that Corts had responded with a new commitment of $245,000 in addition to the $55,000 already banked.
"We had a very profitable conversation and came to clearer understandings," Corts said. "We are going to have to talk through the weekend on matters of concern. We may not know until we hear the vote" Monday.
Plyler said late Friday that he is "trying to give Steve Corts as much opportunity as possible" to reach a deal with the county.
"He wants to put up cash, but that is not what we are talking about," Plyler said. "All I want is a signed document that says you or someone in the organization will say, ‘Don't worry about it, we will pay for it.'"
Corts says the $300,000 his group is ready to commit meets Plyler's requirements that the suit not cost the county any money.
Plyler added that even if the county appeals, that would not bring back sectarian prayers immediately. The county would have to win a later court decision to resume its former prayer practices. And that could take years, Plyler said.
However the vote turns out, county officials know that they have to prepare for a large crowd. They said that they are opening up rooms on the first and fourth floors where people may watch the board vote by television monitor.
wyoung@wsjournal.com
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