San Antonio Faces Lawsuit Threat Over Pre-Council Meeting Prayers
by Allie Martin
March 21, 2006
(ChristiansUnite.com) - - The City of San Antonio, Texas, may be facing litigation over its practice of starting its city government sessions with prayer. An organization that specializes in religious liberty cases has offered to defend the city in a lawsuit over its invocations at its City Council meetings.
Recently, a local resident threatened to sue the city, claiming the prayers violate the establishment clause of the Constitution of the United States. Upon hearing of the lawsuit threat, Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute offered to represent the city free of charge.
Hiram Sasser, Liberty Legal Institute's director of litigation, says the complaint and others like it are "completely unjustified and frivolous." He notes that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that invocation prayers at meetings of government bodies do not violate the Constitution.
Besides, Sasser points out, the way the City Council's invocations have been offered has made them all the more constitutionally defensible. "What's interesting about the situation in San Antonio," he explains, "is that they've had such a wide variety of practitioners -- Muslims, Jewish folks, Native Americans, various Christian denominations -- such that they're completely insulated from attack, having that kind of diverse representation."
The attorney notes that San Antonio is one of many cities across the United States where local government bodies have come under attack for permitting individual expressions of faith in an official forum. "A lot of these cities allow themselves to be bullied by these people demanding a cease of all prayer or religion in public life," he says.
"It's unfortunate," Sasser continues. "But when you stand up to these guys, nine times out of ten they just back down," he asserts, "because they were bluffing, and they knew the law was not on their side."
The constitutional litigation experts at Liberty Legal Institute "are confident the City of San Antonio will stand strong and battle to protect First Amendment rights," Sasser adds. He says the City Council has the right to allow invocations at the beginnings of its meetings, and his organization is ready to aid the Council members in fighting any suit threatening to prohibit this constitutionally-protected practice.
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