Prayer Led by Wiccan Ruled Off Agenda
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RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court Thursday ruled against a Wiccan priestess who argued that she should be eligible to offer the opening prayer at a county meeting.
Cynthia Simpson sued Chesterfield County after she was excluded from a list of religious leaders allowed to pray at the Board of Supervisors’ meetings. In a letter to Simpson, the county explained the invocations “are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition.”
Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans. A lower court judge in 2003 ruled the county’s policy violated the Constitution by stating a preference for a set of religious beliefs. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
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