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Michael Shochet, a member of the clergy for the Fairfax County police, speaks against the proposed legislation. |
By Chelyen Davis
RICHMOND--
A Senate committee has killed a bill that would have prevented the state police from banning prayers to Jesus Christ at public police events.The bill was introduced by Del. Charles Carrico, R-Greyson, to reverse a state police ruling requiring non-sectarian prayers at events like trooper graduations and memorial services.
Carrico said the non-sectarian prayer requirement violated the freedom of speech of state police chaplains.
"I personally feel that you are promoting a religion when you say non-secular, because it's a no-God religion," Carrico said yesterday.
His bill, which had earlier passed the House of Delegates by a wide margin, was killed on an 8-7 voice vote in the Senate Courts of Justice committee.
The issue of praying to a specific deity at public events arose after a federal appeals court upheld a Fredericksburg City Council ban on referring to Jesus Christ in public prayers that open council meetings. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.
As a result of the court's ruling, State Police Col. Steven Flaherty had directed police chaplains--who are troopers who volunteer chaplain services--to avoid denominational prayers at public events.
Six chaplains resigned in protest, igniting a controversy that had a group of ministers criticizing Gov. Tim Kaine and Flaherty for the directive, saying it violated the chaplains' right to pray according to their own conscience.
Carrico's bill would have said the state police could operate a volunteer chaplain program, but could not regulate how those chaplains express religious beliefs.
"They have rights just as much as you and I. They wear a uniform, I understand. But they volunteer their time, this is above and beyond what they're required to do as a trooper," Carrico said. "They should have the right according to the dictates of their conscience to be able to pray and do their job as they feel they have a right under the constitution."
A lawyer from the attorney general's office said he believed Carrico's bill was constitutional, and the Family Foundation supported it, arguing that previous legal precedent protects the right of chaplains or others to deliver public prayers as they see fit.
"The government should not be telling people how to pray or not to pray and that is exactly what this state police policy does," said Chris Freund of the Family Foundation.
The American Civil Liberties Union opposed it, as did a Jewish volunteer police chaplain with the Fairfax County Police Department.
"What I do is not about ministering to just the Jewish people with whom I come in contact my ministry is for people of all religions and people of no religion," said Michael Shochet, a cantor with Temple Rodef Shalomad and a volunteer chaplain. "I must be able to reach out to each person from a spiritual perspective, not a religious perspective. The public is my congregation. The prayer is not about me, it is about helping others get through a time of distress."
Shochet said a prayer that alienated others would not offer comfort and solace to all.
He also said when he puts on a uniform, he no longer represents his Jewish congregation, he represents the police department.
"I urge you to vote against this bill so that chaplains all over the commonwealth remember how important it is that they represent the government when they put on their uniform," Shochet said.
Some senators on the committee had reservations about the bill, and Sen. Tommy Norment, R-Williamsburg, proposed an amendment that required non-sectarian prayers--an amendment that was counter to Carrico's intention, and would have codified the very police policy he was seeking to overturn.
The amendment passed the committee, and Carrico told the senators that if they didn't then kill the bill, he would strike it entirely.
They did kill it, but Carrico said he'll try again next year to reverse a policy that he says favors "the non-secular religion.
"I'll be back. I'm not quitting," Carrico told reporters. "This is deeper, bigger than me. The Christian faith has been persecuted in this country for too long and they're getting tired of it."
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
