Appeals court rules against Wiccan in Virginia prayer lawsuit

From STAFF and WIRE REPORTS

Date published: 4/15/2005

Wiccan in Chesterfield loses

RICHMOND--A federal appeals court yesterday ruled against a priestess of the Wiccan faith who wanted to give the opening prayer when a local board of supervisors meets.

Cynthia Simpson sued Chesterfield County after she was excluded from a list of religious leaders allowed to pray at Board of Supervisors meetings. In a letter to Simpson, the county explained that the invocations "are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition."

Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reversed a lower court's decision ruling in Simpson's favor. A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in 2003 ruled that the county's policy violated the Constitution by stating a preference for a set of religious beliefs.

"This isn't right," said Simpson, 49, a member of a local group known as the Broom Riders Association. "I've been a separation-of-church-and-stater all my life, long before I was a witch. That's what was driving me all along."

Simpson said she will seek a full-court review of the decision.

The case has been watched in the Fredericksburg area and Culpeper County as well.

In Culpeper, the Board of Supervisors has been using a variety of ministers to pray at meetings. From August to February, the board used a moment of silence to open meetings.

The Culpeper Town Council, meanwhile, earlier this week adopted a practice of inviting volunteers to recite what it calls "First Amendment Speech" before the council meeting begins.

In Fredericksburg, a City Council member who is a minister has stopped saying the opening prayer because he could not use a Christian message. Other City Council members pray but make no reference to Christ or any specific denomination.

During the recent General Assembly session, the legislature passed a bill introduced by Del. Bobby Orrock creating a period of "meditation" immediately before a meeting begins.

The measure by Orrock, a Caroline County Republican, is meant to allow local officials to invoke the name of Christ and say sectarian prayers without violating the separation of church and state.

The appeals court based its ruling on Marsh v. Chambers, a 1983 Supreme Court decision that ruled nonsectarian legislative prayer is generally constitutional. The 4th Circuit wrote that Chesterfield County has done a good job of including leaders from a variety of religions to offer opening prayers and therefore abided by the Constitution by not advancing any one faith.

Last year, the 4th Circuit relied upon the Marsh decision to rule in favor of a South Carolina Wiccan involved in a similar case. Darla Kaye Wynne, a Wiccan high priestess, sued the town of Great Falls, S.C., over its practice of opening meetings with prayers that specifically mentioned Jesus Christ.

Date published: 4/15/2005