Forsyth County has filed its final brief in its effort to have the U.S. Supreme Court take up its appeal of a lower court's ruling against sectarian prayers at meetings of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.
Now, those in favor of such prayers and those opposed have to wait and see if the nation's highest court will take case. Mike Johnson, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund which is representing Forsyth County, said he has heard that the justices may discuss in January what cases to take.
They could announce their decision on whether to hear the case as early as February, Johnson said.
"This is a big issue now," Johnson said of the prayer debate. "It is a bigger one nationwide. The court needs to clear up confusion."
County residents who objected to Christian prayers at the beginning of board meetings filed suit against the county in 2007, saying that the county's practice of inviting clergy to say prayers amounted to a government endorsement of Christianity.
In January 2010, the federal court for the middle district of North Carolina ruled against the county, which then appealed the decision to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court ruled 2-1 against the county on July 29. Forsyth commissioners then voted to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The county argues in its latest brief, as it did previously, that different circuit courts have ruled differently in cases with similar facts. For instance, the appeals court for the 11th Circuit, which covers Georgia, ruled that sectarian references in the prayers of randomly invited clergy didn't constitute a government endorsement of religion.
As a result, the county argues, the highest court needs to step in and decide what the rules are.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have represented the citizens who sued the county to stop the prayers. Their attorney, Katherine Parker of the ACLU, said she disagrees that the rulings in various circuits are in conflict or have created confusion.
"The ADF is trying to advocate for a standard where any prayer would be OK, regardless of how sectarian it gets," Parker said. "Every prayer could endorse one particular religion under the standard they set forth. In no case has the court found that to be acceptable."
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