Monday, November 23, 2009

The OC Reg reports on the "prayer" lawsuit

The OC Register has at long last noted the SOCCCD “prayer” lawsuit:

Prayers land college district in legal dispute

The article covers mostly familiar ground, but it does explain some of the history leading up to the lawsuit:
[Plaintiff Karla] Westphal, who has been a professor at Saddleback College since 2001, said the frequency of public prayers at school events began in 2004 when a trustee led a prayer at the beginning of a scholarship ceremony.

Westphal wrote to trustees expressing her opposition to the public prayer.

A week later a prayer was said at the opening of commencement. She said she was so angry she can't remember what was said.

It was in that year that Westphal got in touch with Americans United [For Separation of Church and State] and the American Civil Liberties Union.

"When the prayers initially started I hoped to get it settled without a lawsuit and that just didn't happen," Westphal said. "The suit is a culmination of a long process. I've been working with Americans United for a long time. They wrote letters to the board formally asking for the change. For me there wasn't any particular event. I've been ready for several years. It was a question of whether Americans United felt it was a good time to bring the case forward."
Photo: OC Reg


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