Voters in Lancaster [Calif.] overwhelmingly approve a controversial ballot measure that allows the City Council to continue beginning its meetings with prayers. By a 3 to 1 margin . . .
UPDATE 3/27/13: 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Prayer Policy
-- From "Lancaster voters approve prayers before mtg" ©2010 KABC-TV/DT 7, Los Angeles 4/15/10
Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the ACLU is considering taking Lancaster to court if the prayers are allowed to continue. Critics say Christian prayers are usually delivered. But, city officials say clergy of different faiths are invited to lead the opening prayer.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, who won re-election over four challengers, said he is confident the measure will hold up in court. The controversy first came to light earlier this year when Parris remarked that he was "growing a Christian community" in Lancaster. He later apologized for those remarks and said he realized his words offended non-Christians.
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From "California City May Face Legal Action over Prayer Vote" by John Rogers, Associated Press 4/15/10
When Lancaster's flamboyant mayor R. Rex Parris calls the City Council to order at its next meeting, it's a good bet he'll open the proceedings with a prayer.
Parris, who was up for re-election, had exhorted people to vote for the prayer initiative even if they didn't want to vote for him.
Apparently quite a few listened, as he won re-election over four challengers by collecting 57 percent of the vote. Voters also extended the mayor's term from two to four years beginning in 2012.
Nonbinding Measure I, the prayer measure placed on the ballot by the City Council, put the spotlight on the dusty, high-desert community of 145,000 located 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
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