Syracuse alters its prayer policy

SYRACUSE (AP) — In response to a request from an atheist group, the city has established a new policy regarding prayers to open City Council meetings.

Utah Atheists sent letters late last year to more than 150 towns across the state reminding them to comply with two state Supreme Court rulings.

In 1993, the high court ruled that prayer before meetings is only legal if prayer is nondiscriminatory and available to all.

Ten years later, another ruling specified that cities could not deny anyone the right to participate in prayer because of the anticipated content of their message.

Under Syracuse's new formal policy, anyone who wishes may request — on a first-come, first-served basis — to open the regular council meetings with an invocation or thought.

That person will be limited to 90 seconds, and no one person may give the invocation or thought more than once per quarter.

If no one asks to give the invocation, the mayor can ask a willing person to do it.