Mark's Notebook

Indiana lawmakers pray illegally

Indianapolis Star, Washington Post

A judge's ruling barred the Indiana House of Representatives from invoking the name of Jesus or any other specific deity in official prayers.

That didn't prevent the lawmakers for holding their own prayer, nor did it keep about 30 people from gathering in the Statehouse rotunda this morning to pray.

In fact, the ruling motivated them. Sitting in blue chairs in the marble rotunda, people began the prayer session at 10 a.m. by chanting "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060104/NEWS01/601040484

House Speaker Brian C. Bosma on Tuesday left open the possibility that today's opening-day invocation for the 2006 General Assembly might not comply with recent court orders barring references specific to Christianity.

In a Nov. 30 decision, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton found that the House violated the U.S. Constitution's clause prohibiting a government-established religion when at least 29 invocations last year were offered in the name of Jesus, the Savior or the Son.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060104/NEWS02/601040435

The Indiana General Assembly will begin its 2006 session this week. Speaking from a federal bench, Judge David Hamilton ruled recently on a lawsuit brought by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union that any prayers offered at the Indiana House of Representatives must be nonsectarian and respectful of the diversity of religion of our state. Prayers should not seek to proselytize nor exclude members of other faiths. House Speaker Brian Bosma is challenging that ruling, suggesting that restricting clergy from praying in the name of Jesus Christ is an intrusion on their constitutional rights of freedom of speech and religion.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060103/OPINION/601030355/10
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A federal court judge on Wednesday denied a request to amend his ruling banning sectarian prayer in the Indiana House of Representatives, clearing the way for an appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

U.S. District Judge David Hamilton rejected arguments by House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, that Hamilton's ruling was too vague to enforce.

"If the speaker or those offering prayers seek to evade the injunction through indirect but well understood expressions of specifically Christian beliefs, the audience, the public, and the court will be able to see what is happening. In that unlikely event, the court will be able to take appropriate measures to enforce" the injunction.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051229/NEWS02/512290459/100
6/NEWS01

In a spirited duel over prayer, members of the Indiana state House are at odds with a federal judge who ruled that the daily invocation appeals too often to Jesus Christ and a Christian god.

The "systematically sectarian" prayers, U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton concluded, are barred by the Constitution, which forbids the government to show preference for any religious denomination. He ordered the House to avoid mentioning Christ in the formal benedictions.

A number of politicians have vowed to defy Hamilton, whom they accuse of undermining a 188-year Indiana tradition and interfering in legislative branch affairs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/31/AR2005123100723.
html

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Last updated Monday 3 August 2009