Appeals court upholds 'Judeo-Christian' prayer policy.

A federal appeals court has upheld a Virginia county's prayer policy that discriminates against religious minorities.

On April 14, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that "Judeo-Christian" prayers before a Virginia county board of supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject.
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The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. do not violate the First Amendment. The court cited a 1983 Supreme Court ruling upholding nonsectarian prayers before the Nebraska legislature.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is a religious freedom advocacy group in the United States which promotes the separation of church and state, a legal doctrine seen by the AU as being enshrined in the Establishment and the American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. of Virginia brought the case on behalf of Cynthia Simpson, a Chesterfield County resident who asked to be placed on the board's list to give an invocation at its meetings.

When the board discovered that Simpson was a Wiccan, she was denied, because only invocations "consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition" were welcome. Her Simpson v. Chesterfield County lawsuit argued that the board's policy violated the separation of church and state

See also: .

Separation of church and state is a political and legal doctrine which states that government and religious institutions are to be kept separate and independent of one another. .

"This is a terrible decision," said Barry W. Lynn Reverend Barry W. Lynn (born 1948 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) has been the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State since 1992.^[1] , Americans United executive director. "It allows government officials to engage in rank discrimination against religious minorities that they don't approve of.

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Title Annotation:	AROUND THE STATES
Publication:	Church & State
Article Type:	Brief Article
Geographic Code:	1U5VA
Date:	May 1, 2005
Words:	178
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Topics:	Church and state Cases Laws, regulations and rules Prayer Cases Laws, regulations and rules Prayers Cases Laws, regulations and rules

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