In Cobranchi v. City of Parkersburg, (D WV, May 17, 2022), a West Virginia federal district court held that Parkersburg's City Council violated the Establishment Clause by opening each of its meetings with The Lord's Prayer. The court said in part:
The City Council’s prayer practice most clearly runs afoul of the Fourth Circuit’s concern with identifying the government with a single preferred religious sect. As noted, the Lord’s Prayer is sourced from a biblical translation of the gospel of Matthew, and the version utilized by the town council includes a concluding Christian doxology.... [I]t seems apparent that a reasonable observer to City Council meetings would be aware of the origin, or at the least Christian nature, of the prayer. By continually reciting, over a number of years, the same prayer clearly identifiable with a particular faith, without the opportunity for other faiths to be heard, the City Council impermissibly identified itself with a preferred religion.
FFRF issued a press release announcing the decision.
