RICHMOND, Va. A federal appeals court has ruled against a priestess of the Wiccan faith who argued that she should be eligible to give the opening prayer when a local board of supervisors meets.
Cynthia Simpson sued Chesterfield County after she was excluded from a list of religious leaders allowed to pray at Board of Supervisors meetings. The county sent a letter to Simpson explaining that the invocations … quote … “are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition.”
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed a lower court’s decision ruling in Simpson’s favor.
The appeals court wrote that Chesterfield County has done a good job of including leaders from a variety of religions to offer opening prayers.
Simpson says she plans to request a full-court review of the decision.
Chesterfield County Attorney Steven Micas says the court got the ruling right.