Federal judge rules against public prayer

Federal judge rules against public prayer in Ga.
Cobb County ordered to pay $1 to residents who sued; no injunction issued

Updated: 2:02 p.m. ET July 12, 2007

ATLANTA - A federal judge has ruled that officials in a suburban county violated the Constitution in the way they selected clergy to offer prayers before certain public meetings, but refused to issue an injunction since the practice has been made more ecumenical.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Richard Story, in a decision dated Friday, ordered Cobb County, near Atlanta, to pay $1 to seven residents who sued in 2005 over the prayer practice.

“Because the court finds that plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate an immediate threat of injury and failed to demonstrate that an injunction will redress their injuries, plaintiffs do not have standing to seek a permanent injunction,” Story wrote.

They weren’t against the right to pray, but rather the sectarian content of some of the prayers — 70 percent of the prayers were Christian in nature — and the manner in which guests were selected to lead the prayers — clergy were picked in part by thumbing through the Yellow Pages.

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The truth is...They weren’t against the right to pray, they were just against the prayers that were prayed in "Jesus Name".