SC town adopts ADF-recommended prayer policy in wake of threats from atheist group

ADF attorneys help city of Woodruff continue constitutionally protected, centuries-old American tradition

WOODRUFF, S.C. — The city of Woodruff adopted an invocations policy Tuesday recommended by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, which ensures local officials can continue their constitutionally protected practice of prayer before public meetings despite recent threats from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Last month, ADF, in cooperation with area lawyers who are part of the nearly 1,800 attorneys in the ADF alliance, sent letters to three local governments in South Carolina, including Woodruff, offering to legally defend them for free if they are attacked in court over valid invocations policies.

Allied attorneys Jay Thompson of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, LLP; Matthew Gerrald of Barnes, Alford, Stork & Johnson, LLP; and Timothy Savidge of the Bufkin Law Firm, LLC, all of Columbia, S.C., sent the three letters last month to South Carolina officials on behalf of ADF.

“America’s founders opened public meetings with prayer, and public officials today should be able to do the same,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brett Harvey. “We were happy to assist the city of Woodruff with a prayer policy that can be followed with confidence. We will defend it in court if necessary because the First Amendment protects public officials who choose to invoke divine guidance and blessings upon their work in the constitutionally sound manner described by this policy.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters to the cities of Woodruff and Aiken, as well as Spartanburg County in South Carolina, demanding that they discontinue public prayers before meetings, which they falsely claim are unconstitutional. The activist group alleges that the prayers violate the rights of non-religious attendees and others who might feel offended or excluded by such invocations.

“Feeling offended does not mean the Constitution has been violated,” Harvey explained. “Through their campaign of fear, intimidation, and disinformation, these groups continue their threats against hometown governments that they consider to be easy prey. Public officials throughout our country need to be encouraged and reminded that they can and should resist the increasingly forceful demands of radical secularist groups.”

“We hope other local governments around the country will follow the lead of the city of Woodruff and take a stand against groups that seek to hide our religious heritage,” added Oran Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Council, who was instrumental in assisting the city together with ADF and its allied attorneys.

Thursday, a federal court issued a strong opinion upholding a New York town’s prayer policy that was defended by ADF after the town had been sued by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.