Richmond, USA - The federal appeals court in Richmond ruled yesterday that the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors can exclude a member of the Wiccan faith from giving invocations at county meetings.
But Wiccan priestess Cynthia Simpson said she intends to renew her appeal in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"I'm eager to appeal," Simpson said. "The ACLU is eager to appeal. We still think we're right."
The Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union came to aid Simpson's case after she was rejected from joining the list of eligible clergy who may be invited to say the prayer during supervisors' meetings. The county policy limits that list to religions that follow Judeo-Christian traditions.
Simpson's belief in Wicca holds among other things that the deity is not separate from humanity and the world but that human beings and everything in and on the Earth are divine.
Kent Willis, ACLU of Virginia executive director, said the group was disappointed by the ruling, "not just for Wiccans, but also for all the other religions excluded from participation in the Chesterfield County prayer ceremonies."
The U.S. founding fathers' "vision of religious equality foresaw a diverse religious landscape in which the government would never show a preference for some religions over others. Unfortunately, this decision allows exactly that to happen."
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said yesterday that he was "shocked" by the appellate court's decision. Americans United backed the appeal of Simpson's case along with the ACLU.
"This is a terrible decision," he said. "It allows government officials to engage in rank discrimination against religious minorities that they don't approve of."
But the three-judge panel that decided the Simpson case noted that the list of eligible clergy is a broad cross section of the county's religious groups. That "made plain [the county] was not affiliated with any one specific faith by opening its doors to a wide pool of clergy. The Judeo-Christian tradition is, after all, not a single faith but an umbrella covering many faiths."
Examining the Simpson case using a U.S. Supreme Court opinion about a state legislature's invocation policy, the panel found that because Chesterfield's policy does not "proselytize or advance" any one faith or belief, or "disparage any other," it fits within the Supreme Court's requirements for legislative prayer.
County Attorney Steven L. Micas said, "Chesterfield County's invocation policy was developed shortly after the Supreme Court of the United States established the constitutional ground rules for legislative invocations. Our policy exceeds the inclusiveness standards set by the court."