http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=134&id=1927
TAMPA, FL -- Less than a year after becoming the first Hindu American
group to file an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief with the
United States Supreme Court, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF)
continued its legal campaign with another brief in support of a petition
for writ of certiorari. The case, Simpson v. Chesterfield County,
involves legislative prayer. While the HAF's first brief opposing a Ten
Commandments display on public grounds in Texas was already scheduled to
be heard by the Supreme Court, a writ of certiorari is a request to the
Court to review a case. The latest HAF brief was supported by numerous
Hindu organizations and co-signed by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship,
Association of American Indian Affairs as well as the Interfaith
Alliance.
....
The Board of Supervisors of Chesterfield County, Virginia, has been
opening its meetings with invocations given by local clergy who
volunteer for the task. This practice began after the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled in the 1980's that legislative bodies could begin
their sessions with non-sectarian prayer without violating the
Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. Cynthia
Simpson, a member of the Wiccan faith who wanted to lead prayer, was
told that she could not pray at the meetings because she did not
practice a religion "within the Judeo-Christian tradition." The Wiccan
faith is based on a belief in unity with the earth and the idea that God
is not separate from human.
Ms. Simpson filed suit and the lower court ruled in her favor ordering
the County to change the policy to "include all faiths or to stop using
the policy altogether." The county appealed and a very conservative
panel of judges from the Fourth Circuit Court reversed the lower court
holding that such discrimination was permissible under current laws.
....
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Merlyn LeRoy
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