Arizona Day of Prayer Proclamations Challenged In State Court Lawsuit

Last month, an Arizona federal district court dismissed on standing grounds an Establishment Clause challenge to Arizona Governor Janice Brewer's past and future declarations of an official Day of Prayer. (See prior posting.)  Refusing to give up, now the Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed a challenge to the Day of Prayer proclamations in an Arizona state court invoking the state constitution. (FFRF press release). The complaint (full text) in Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Brewer, (AZ Super. Ct. filed 1/4/2012), alleges that in making the proclamations, the governor violated two state constitutional provisions-- Art. II, Sec. 12 which bars the use of public funds for religious worship, and Art. XX, Sec. 1 that "no inhabitant of this state shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship, or lack of the same." Yesterday's Arizona Republic reported on the lawsuit.