By Jeremy Peppas
Stephens Media
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has asked the city to stop opening City Council meetings with prayer.
A spokeswoman for the group says a lawsuit to halt the practice could follow if officials don’t quit voluntarily.
The city attorney presented options at the council’s regular meeting tonight. Mayor Patrick Hays said his intention was not to change any normal practices without direction from the council. The panel took no action.
The City Council typically meets twice a month and either the mayor or a member member of the council opens each session with prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
The council opened for business this evening following prayer by Alderman Sam Baggett, who is under federal indictment on charges related to his alleged dealings with reputed mobster George Wylie Thompson of Cabot. During his prayer, Baggett thanked the Lord for the ability to pray.
In a letter to the city dated March 12, ACLU Arkansas attorney Holly Dickson wrote that its practice of offering a sectarian prayer “runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.”
Dickson wrote that while the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled non-sectarian prayers are legal, a review of nearly one year’s worth of meetings showed the North Little Rock City Council’s prayers “are not non-sectarian but are exclusively Christian” all, referring to “Our Father, Jesus Christ (or) your Son.”
City Attorney Jason Carter said today that an unnamed North Little Rock resident prompted the ACLU’s request.
In a written response to the ACLU, Carter wrote, “My conclusion (is) that sectarian references are permissible … as long as they do not proselytize, advance or disparage any particular religious belief.”
Carter said the City Council’s tradition of opening meetings with prayer goes back more than 100 years.
“I know of no complaint ever levied,” he said. “I could find no response or the city ever taking any action on a complaint about opening invocation.”
Carter discussed with the council this evening a range of options, from continuing the prayer unabated to stopping the practice completely to adding a statement that the prayer was the belief of the person praying.
Dickson said she just received the city’s response in the mail today and had not reviewed it.
She said she had spoken with Carter recently about the issue and found it “interesting they are claiming that (the prayer) is constitutional (and) they are also looking to change their practices.”
“If they opt not to discontinue the practice, if the client wishes to file suit, we’d go forward,” Dickson said.
