KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM/FM) — Kalamazoo County commissioners may have been in violation of a court order when they asked Commissioner John Gisler to open their last meeting with a prayer.
It’s a practice that has been done this way as long as anyone can remember.
But mid-month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that having elected officials conduct prayers before meetings, and compelling the citizens in attendance to stand for the prayer are both violations of the separation of church and state.
The ruling is the result of a suit filed by a citizen, challenging the same practice by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, a suit which has been working its way through the courts for some time, and might be appealed again.
The appellate court ruled that boards and commissions can ask a variety of clergy from area religious groups to provide invocations, but the act of having an elected official do the prayer steps over the line. Until some other court overturns it, that is the law of the land.
Kalamazoo may also have to reconsider using Vice Mayor Don Cooney as their back up when their invited clergy fails to appear and opt for a moment of silence instead.
