Shelley Rubin v. City of Lancaster

We must decide whether a city council’s practice of opening its meetings with privately led prayers effects 'an unconstitutional establishment of religion.

I

A

The City of Lancaster, California, typically begins each of its city-council meetings with a citizen-led invocation. For years, that practice had been merely an informal one. But on August 25, 2009, after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the American Civil Liberties Union, the City decided to commit to paper an official invocation policy. That policy sets forth a two-step procedure for soliciting volunteers. First, the city clerk “com-piléis] and maintain[s] a database ... of the religious congregations with an established presence” in Lancaster. To gather names of local congregations to add to the master list, the clerk reviews Lancaster’s Yellow Pages for “churches,” “congregations,” and “other religious assemblies”; searches the internet for any local “church,” “synagogue,” “temple,” “chapel,” or “mosque”; and consults the regional chamber of commerce and newspaper. All congregations in Lancaster are eligible to appear on the City’s list. The clerk does not probe “the faith, denomination, or other…