Pa. House spends $1.1 million to win court battle to preserve opening prayer tradition

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives went to federal court to maintain an opening prayer that invokes a higher power and it came at a high cost to taxpayers.

When all the legal bills were tallied for the lawsuit that played out over three years, the amount paid to the Philadelphia law firm of Stradley Ronan totaled more than $1.1 million, according to House Speaker Mike Turzai’s office.

The House’s fight against atheists and non-believers who challenged its prayer policy was successful. It ended in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals with a 2-1 ruling in August that reversed a U.S. Middle Court judge’s decision from last year that found it to be unconstitutional.

Turzai said the House’s tradition of opening the legislative day session with an invocation to a higher power began centuries ago. Asked about the expense involved in defending the prayer tradition, he said, “As Speaker of the House, we were going to defend the longstanding tradition of beginning the legislative day with a prayer.”

Turzai declined to answer further direct questions about the matter, including one about whether the rest of the chamber was alerted to the cost of defending the policy.

Deana Weaver, of Carroll Township, York County, was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and was shocked by the amount the House spent on the lawsuit. The member of the Dillsburg Area Freethinkers has twice delivered the opening prayer in the state Senate.

“Our money is easy for them to spend and our opinions are just as easy for them to negate. Ain’t that a shame,” she said. “I would like to be flattered that it was just so important to them to keep me quiet because that means that what I have to say is of value.”

Alex Luchenitser, associate legal director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State and lead counsel on that case, said the nontheists remain disappointed by the courts’ decision but point out the House could still change its policy to make it more inclusive like the one the Senate has. The Senate allows secular invocations at the start of session.

“The court did not say the House must discriminate against people who do not believe in a god,” he said. “We urge legislators to do the right thing and make House proceedings more representative of all Pennsylvanians by welcoming nontheists to offer invocations during House sessions.”

He said if the House had altered its policy to be more inclusive, “our clients and Pennsylvania taxpayers could have been spared this litigation” along with the expense that went with it.

PennLive and The Patriot-News are partners with PA Post.