Texas Lawyer Sues Houston Over 'Too Christian' Prayers
A Texas lawyer who prevailed in an earlier federal lawsuit over a Harris County monument featuring a Bible is gearing up for her next constitutional battle.
Saying that the prayers offered by city council member Anne Clutterbuck, in particular, are too Christian, attorney Kay Staley filed a federal lawsuit over the weekend against both Clutterbuck and the city, reports the Houston Chronicle.
It contends that the city violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause by promoting Christian prayer. The U.S. Supreme Court permits prayer at government meetings, but says it must not promote a particular religion, the newspaper notes.
Randall Kallinen, who represented Staley in her earlier establishment-clause case regarding a Houston courthouse monument that incorporated a Bible, is representing her again in the new case. A federal district court judge ruled that the Bible monument violated the First Amendment, and the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled the case moot because the Bible had by then been removed from the monument. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the county’s appeal, the Chronicle recounts.
Attorney Arturo Michel, who represents the city, says Houston’s prayer practices pass constitutional muster because no one voice or religion dominates.
