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Suit Threatened Over Who Can Use City Space For National Day of Prayer

By Howard Friedman

In Plano, Texas, City Council faces a possible lawsuit over who gets to use Council Chambers for this year's May 1 National Day of Prayer event. Today's Dallas Morning News reports that Roy Frady of Plano's WillowCreek Fellowship Church has been frozen out. In past years, his group of mostly Christian pastors has reserved council chambers for the prayer event. A city rule allows groups to book the chamber up to 90 days in advance of an event, as long as the city does not have a conflicting need for the room. In recent years another multi-faith group has been first to reserve the space. This year, Frady thought he was first to book, but found that a new group, the Multicultural Outreach Roundtable-- which is appointed by city council as an official committee-- already had a multi-faith prayer event scheduled for May 1. By designating MCOR's event as an official city function, this exempted it from the 90-day rule. Frady says that this maneuver, allowing the city's favored group book early, has violated the Establishment Clause by favoring one expression of religion over another. Frady, represented by the Liberty Legal Institute (press release), has given the city until Wednesday to respond to his letter (full text) objecting to the city's actions.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on March 20, 2008 (boomark / email).