Therefore, he has argued, the Constitution's protections of free speech prohibit the government from dictating their content.
An opinion issued today and written by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who was sitting in on the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, upholds an earlier court ruling against Turner.
"Turner's argument misses the mark," O'Connor's brief reads.
The prayer issue arose in Fredericksburg five years ago, when a resident complained to the American Civil Liberties Union that Turner was invoking Jesus Christ in his opening prayers. The ACLU threatened to sue the city if that continued, so the council adopted a nondenominational prayer policy, and Turner was taken out of the prayer rotation.
The council member had argued that the government could "not dictate the content of official prayers" and that therefore "the government cannot require that nonsectarian prayers be given."
"Turner was not forced to offer a prayer that violated his deeply held religious beliefs," O'Connor wrote. "Instead, he was given the chance to pray on behalf of government. Turner was unwilling to do so in the manner that the government had proscribed, but remains free to pray on his own behalf, in nongovernmental endeavors, in the manner dictated by his conscience.'
"His First Amendment Free Exercise rights have not been violated."
Turner is being represented by the Charlottesville-based Rutherford Institute, and the city's counsel is being provided at no cost by the Hunton & Williams law firm and the People for the American Way Foundation.
For more on this story, please check back later today.