A number of large outdoor billboards sponsored by the North Carolina Partnership for Religious Liberty have been popping up around Winston-Salem in recent days. The billboards depict a man gagged by a piece of duct tape with the letters “ACLU” scrawled across it. There is also a plug for the website, letusallpray.org, with the word "all" underlined.
The ads refer to the current controversy surrounding prayer at Forsyth County commissioners meetings. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) won its lawsuit that it filed on behalf of two Forsyth County residents, Janet Joyner and Constance Blackmon,who objected to invocations prior to commissioners meetings as a violation of their constitutional rights.
On Jan. 28, US District Court Judge James Beaty ruled that the use of sectarian prayer at the beginning of Forsyth County Board of Commissioners meetings violates the First Amendment. Judge Beaty’s ruling came in response to an objection filed by Forsyth County in December. The county objected to an earlier decision by US Magistrate Judge Trevor Sharp that prayer at commissioners meetings are sectarian, and therefore, unconstitutional.
The Forsyth County commissioners are scheduled on Monday to vote on whether or not to pursue a legal challenge to Judge Beaty’s ruling. Monday’s vote represents yet another chapter in a two-year controversy over prayer at commissioners meetings.
The billboards represent one component of a campaign by the North Carolina Partnership for Religious Liberty urging the commissioners to take their appeal to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. On its website, the advocacy group encourages its members to contact board chairman Dave Plyler to encourage him to vote for the appeal. Commissioners Debra Conrad, Gloria Whisenhunt, and Richard Linville have all publicly expressed their support for appealing the judge's ruling, while commissioners Ted Kaplan, Beaufort Bailey and Walter Marshall are opposed to a legal challenge. Plyler appears to have the deciding vote on the seven-member board.
The North Carolina Partnership for Religious Liberty claims that it has raised commitments for an additional $100,000 to go with the $55,000 that was raised last year. The implication is those funds will be used to pay the county’s legal fees.
The group’s website [letusallpray.org] encourages its members to attend the Feb. 22 meeting of the Forsyth County Commissioners to voice their concerns. The meeting will be held at the Forsyth County Government Center beginning at 6 p.m.
The meeting agenda includes a 30-minute public hearing on the prayer issue. Members of the public wishing to speak will be required to complete a speaker card before the meeting begins and hand it to the board clerk. Speaker cards will be selected on a random basis, and each speaker must hold their remarks to 3 minutes.
In anticipation of intense public interest, the commissioners have set up two overflow rooms to accommodate all citizens who attend Monday's meeting. Also, closed-circuit video monitors will be set up on the first and fourth floors of the Government Center, which is located at 201 North Chestnut Street in downtown Winston-Salem.
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