On Nat'l Day of Prayer, Colo. Supreme Court hearing case on prayer proclamations
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys available to media following oral arguments
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014
Attorney sound bites: Michael J. Norton | Brett Harvey
WHO: ADF Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton and ADF Senior Counsel Brett Harvey
WHAT: Available for media interviews following Colorado Supreme Court oral arguments in Hickenlooper v. Freedom From Religion Foundation
WHEN: Immediately following hearing, which begins at 9 a.m. MDT, Thursday, May 1
WHERE: La Junta Junior/Senior High School, 1817 Smithland Ave., La Junta
LA JUNTA, Colo. — Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys will be available for media interviews Thursday following oral arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court in an atheist group’s attack on the historic right of the state’s governor to issue honorary prayer proclamations. Thursday happens to be this year’s date for the annual National Day of Prayer.
ADF, on behalf of numerous state elected officials and the National Day of Prayer Task Force, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in defense of issuing the proclamations. ADF has been involved in the defense of prayer for many years, including the defense of prayer before public meetings in a pivotal case to be decided soon by the U.S. Supreme Court, Town of Greece v. Galloway.
“Public officials today should be as free to issue prayer proclamations as the founders of America and Colorado were,” said ADF Senior Counsel and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Michael J. Norton. “State and federal courts nationwide have repeatedly upheld and recognized prayer proclamations as a deeply rooted part of American history and tradition.”
“No governor of any other state in the nation has been barred from issuing such proclamations. Our prayer is that the Colorado Supreme Court does not become the first state to bar its governor from doing so,” added ADF Senior Counsel Brett Harvey.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed suit in 2010 to challenge the constitutionality of the issuance of prayer proclamations, which Colorado’s governors have routinely issued on the National Day of Prayer each year. After a lower court ruled against FFRF, it appealed to the Colorado Court of Appeals, which reversed the ruling. The Colorado attorney general then appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
In 1952, President Harry Truman signed into law a joint resolution by Congress to set aside an annual National Day of Prayer. Congress amended the law in 1988, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan, specifying that the annual event would be observed on “the first Thursday in May each year.” This month, members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution “affirming the vital role that prayer has played throughout the more than 200-year history of our Nation, strengthening the fabric of our society, and recognizing May 1, 2014, as the 63rd annual National Day of Prayer.”
LA JUNTA, Colo. — Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys will be available for media interviews Thursday following oral arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court in an atheist group’s attack on the historic right of the state’s governor to issue honorary prayer proclamations. Thursday happens to be this year’s date for the annual National Day of Prayer.ADF, on behalf of numerous state elected officials and the National Day of Prayer Task Force, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in defense of issuing the proclamations. ADF has been involved in the defense of prayer for many years, including the defense of prayer before public meetings in a pivotal case to be decided soon by the U.S. Supreme Court, Town of Greece v. Galloway.
“Public officials today should be as free to issue prayer proclamations as the founders of America and Colorado were,” said ADF Senior Counsel and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Michael J. Norton. “State and federal courts nationwide have repeatedly upheld and recognized prayer proclamations as a deeply rooted part of American history and tradition.”
“No governor of any other state in the nation has been barred from issuing such proclamations. Our prayer is that the Colorado Supreme Court does not become the first state to bar its governor from doing so,” added ADF Senior Counsel Brett Harvey.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed suit in 2010 to challenge the constitutionality of the issuance of prayer proclamations, which Colorado’s governors have routinely issued on the National Day of Prayer each year. After a lower court ruled against FFRF, it appealed to the Colorado Court of Appeals, which reversed the ruling. The Colorado attorney general then appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
In 1952, President Harry Truman signed into law a joint resolution by Congress to set aside an annual National Day of Prayer. Congress amended the law in 1988, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan, specifying that the annual event would be observed on “the first Thursday in May each year.” This month, members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution “affirming the vital role that prayer has played throughout the more than 200-year history of our Nation, strengthening the fabric of our society, and recognizing May 1, 2014, as the 63rd annual National Day of Prayer.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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