DENVER—Gov. Bill Ritter did nothing unconstitutional when he issued proclamations recognizing the National Day of Prayer, a Denver judge ruled Thursday.
District Judge R. Michael Mullins dismissed arguments by the Freedom From Religion Foundation that Ritter’s proclamations are a state endorsement of religion, a violation of the Colorado Constitution’s religious freedom clause.
The proclamations don’t have the force of law, Mullins said. They simply assert individuals’ right to practice religion, he said.
“Of course I think this judge is very, very wrong,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which supports separation of church and state.
Gaylor noted that the foundation won a similar lawsuit against the federal government earlier this year.
The Obama administration is appealing the decision by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb in Wisconsin that the national prayer day is an unconstitutional call to religious action.
Governors across the country issue proclamations for the National Day of Prayer, established by a 1988 federal law as the first Thursday in May. Gaylor said her group sued the state of Colorado in 2008 because the National Day of Prayer Task Force is based in Colorado Springs.
Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Founder James Dobson, is the task force chairwoman.
The foundation will likely appeal the Denver court’s decision, Gaylor said.
“I do not think that under state law in Colorado the governor has the right to exhort citizens to pray,” she said.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers praised the judge’s ruling.
“I was pleased to see the judge’s well reasoned and persuasive order upholding this commonplace practice,” Suthers said in a written statement.
