Indiana House Speaker Appeals Prayer Ruling
Speaker Brian Bosma has asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge’s decision restricting opening prayers in the Indiana House of Representatives.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Speaker Brian Bosma has asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge’s decision restricting opening prayers in the Indiana House of Representatives.
The 68-page appeal argues that U.S. District Judge David Hamilton overstepped judicial bounds when he ruled the House could not formally open with prayers that mention Jesus Christ or endorse any particular religion.
“For the first time in American history, a federal court has specifically prohibited state legislators and their invited guests from using the name of Jesus Christ in prayer,” Bosma said in a news release Friday.
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“An overwhelming majority of House members and the public believe that this decision is over- reaching and that this ruling into the internal practices of a co-equal branch of government by this court should not be allowed,” said Bosma, R-Indianapolis.
The action was filed Wednesday in the Court of Appeals in Chicago.
A three-judge panel in March voted 2-1 to deny Bosma’s request for an order temporarily lifting the ban while the case was argued.
The appeals court said the case involved internal proceedings of a legislative body and raised important federalism concerns and deserved review.
Hamilton, the son of a United Methodist minister, ruled Nov. 30 that invocations offered in the state House could not mention Jesus Christ or use Christian terms such as savior because they amount to state endorsement of a religion.
But Bosma’s appeal argues that Hamilton’s ruling violates the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion because it intrudes on visiting clergy and lawmakers’ ability to pray in accordance with their own consciences.
It also puts courts in the position of unconstitutionally making religious distinctions.
“Indeed, any attempt to draw a line between ‘sectarian’ and ‘nonsectarian’ prayer – a doctrinal line – requires courts to interpret different faiths and to make controversial judgments about what aspects of those faiths are most important to their adherents,” the appeal said.
It says other court rulings have upheld similar prayers in other state legislatures and not specifically prohibited the mention of Jesus.
It claimed the plaintiffs had no standing to sue because they were not present when the prayers were said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the lawsuit in June on behalf of four people, including a Quaker lobbyist, who said they found the tradition of offering the usually Christian prayers offensive.
“We continue to think that Judge Hamilton is correct,” said Ken Falk, an attorney with the ACLU of Indiana.
House members complied with Hamilton’s order by meeting for informal prayers in the back of their chamber before official business begins.
The Senate was not named in the lawsuit that led to the ruling, but senators also changed the way they begin their meetings by having a moment of silent reflection instead of an invocation.
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