Christian Newswire — The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 23, 2008 ruled that the city council of Fredericksburg, Virginia had proper authority to require “non-sectarian” prayer content and exclude council-member Rev. Hashmel Turner from the prayer rotation because he prayed “in Jesus’ name.”
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, writing the decision, said: “The restriction that prayers be nonsectarian in nature is designed to make the prayers accessible to people who come from a variety of backgrounds, not to exclude or disparage a particular faith.”

Ironically, she admitted Turner was excluded from participating solely because of the Christian content of his prayer.

A full text copy of the decision, with added commentary by former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, [Editors note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.].