(L-R) Judges E. Grady Jolly, Kurt Engelhardt and Jerry Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (Photos: Courtesy and Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)
A federal appeals court panel fractured in a ruling holding that a Texas jurist’s courtroom prayer ceremonies don’t violate the First Amendment, with the dissenting judge accusing his colleagues of “willful blindness.”
The majority, consisting of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judges Jerry Smith and Kurt Engelhardt, sided with Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack of Montgomery County, who was sued in 2019 by a nonprofit group that alleges prayers that take place before proceedings in Mack’s courtroom aren’t in line with the establishment clause. The prayers are part of a volunteer chaplain program Mack started that consists of clergy of different faiths.
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