Despite the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing such prayer, the Democrat-controlled state Senate voted to stop prayers that have always opened each session -- the first state legislature in the nation to do so.
UPDATE 2/9/11: Hawaii House votes to keep prayer in Capitol
UPDATE 1/27/11: Hawaii senators hold prayer despite vote to end it
-- From "Hawaii State Senate bans daily prayer" posted at Ballot News 1/23/11
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) fired off a letter to the State Senate this past summer after a citizen, “who objected to prayers that reference Jesus Christ,” lodged a complaint against the state governmental body.
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From "Hawaii Senate ends daily chamber prayers" by The Associated Press 1/22/11
[The ACLU complaint] prompted the state attorney general's office to advise the Senate that their handling of prayers — by inviting speakers from various religions to preach before every session — wouldn't survive a likely court challenge, said Democratic Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria.
"They (the ACLU) continue to threaten governments with lawsuits to try to force them into capitulating to their view of society," said Brett Harvey, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, made up of Christian lawyers to defend free faith speech. "Governments should take a stand for this cherished historical practice."
"They're a legal body, they make the laws, and they ought to follow them," said Mitch Kahle, founder of Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church, who would have been a plaintiff in a potential ACLU lawsuit.
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