Viera, FL – In a victory for religious freedom for all residents of Brevard County, the Board of County Commissioners has agreed not to resume its past practice of discriminating against people who don’t belong to mainstream, monotheistic religions when selecting invocation speakers to open board meetings.
The commissioners have approved an agreement to settle Williamson v. Brevard County, a federal lawsuit filed in 2015 by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) on behalf of the Central Florida Freethought Community (CFFC) and other nontheists whom the board had barred from offering opening invocations.
The settlement agreement implements a July 2019 decision of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which made clear that government officials must not engage in religious discrimination when selecting people to deliver opening invocations.
Plaintiff Keith Becher, president of Humanist Community of the Space Coast said of the ruling, “We are pleased with the settlement and happy to see Brevard County do the right thing by agreeing to it. Local governments in Florida, if they continue to have pre-meeting invocations, should respect the diversity of religious beliefs in their communities by abstaining from religiously discriminatory practices as required by the 11th Circuit’s decision. In fact, a great way to make people of all beliefs feel welcomed at public meetings is not opening with an invocation at all.”
Since 2014, the CFFC has offered more than 80 nontheistic invocations at city, town, and county government meetings across Central Florida. Brevard County was the only government body that rejected CFFC’s requests for inclusion in the process.
Alex J. Luchenitser, Associate Legal Director of Americans United and lead counsel in the case, stated: “This settlement protects the religious freedom of everyone in Brevard County. No one should be excluded from participating in local government because of their beliefs about religion.”
FFRF Co-President, Annie Laurie Gaylor said, “We are satisfied with the settlement. Official invocation policies shouldn’t be favoring certain religious beliefs, no matter how dominant they are.”
Daniel Mach, Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief added, “This settlement vindicates the constitutional rights of Brevard County residents. There should never be a religious litmus test for civic participation.”
Plaintiffs in the case include the CFFC and its director, David Williamson; the Space Coast Freethought Association and its president, Chase Hansel; the Humanist Community of the Space Coast and its president, Keith Becher; and Brevard County resident Ronald Gordon.
The case litigation team included Luchenitser, Legal Director Richard B. Katskee and Legal Fellow Alexander Gouzoules at Americans United; Legal Director Rebecca S. Markert and Director of Strategic Response Andrew L. Seidel of FFRF; Daniel Tilley of the ACLU of Florida; and Daniel Mach of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.
RESOURCES:
The amended complaint filed in August 2015
The 11th Circuit’s opinion issued July 8, 2019