October 30, 2013

The Honorable Wayne Motley

Mayor of Waukegan

Waukegan City Council

100 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

Waukegan, IL 60085

Re: Religious Invocations at Waukegan City Council Meetings

Dear Mayor Motley and Council Members:

As a follow-up to my letter dated June 25, 2013, and one from Freedom From Religion

Foundation Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott dated June 13, 2013, I am writing once again to ask the

Waukegan City Council to reconsider its use of religious prayer to begin each meeting. FFRF

and its local chapter, the FFRF Metropolitan Chicago Chapter, represent over 600 members in

the Chicago area including Lake County.

The City Council has now held eleven meetings since Mayor Wayne Motley took office in May,

2013 and had replaced the inclusive “Moment of Silence” which had been conducted during the

previous administration, with the divisive invocation of religious prayer. All eleven of the

invocations given since that time have been led by a Christian minister, ten of which have been

led by the same minister. In addition, five of these invocations (occurring on 5/20/13, 8/5/13,

9/3/13, 9/16/13 & 10/21) have been decidedly Christian in nature, by closing with either “In the

name of Jesus Christ, amen,” or “In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit, amen.”

The Supreme Court decision of Marsh v. Chambers 463 U.S. 783 (1983) made certain aspects of

city council prayer allowable without being a violation of the Establishment Clause. The

exceptions to an Establishment Clause violation defined in this decision are narrow. Examples

of government prayer exceeding the confines outlined by the Marsh decision include if the prayers are:

1) “…exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief.” Marsh

v. Chambers 463 U.S. 783 (1983). This would include references to a specific religious

tradition, for example invoking the name of Jesus Christ or the trinity.

2) Led by clergy members or religious leaders who represent only one particular faith, to the near or

total exclusion of other faiths.

It has become apparent the Waukegan City Council prayer invocations have indeed fallen outside the

parameters set forth by the Marsh v. Chambers decision, therefore making them in violation of the

Establishment Clause.

While the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its Metropolitan Chicago Chapter recognize under the

current law that legislative prayer is allowable under certain circumstances, we stand firmly on the

position that all government-sponsored prayer is divisive and unconstitutional, and treats those who hold

no religious beliefs as outsiders.

Again we ask the Waukegan City Council to cease religious invocations during its twice-monthly

meetings, or at minimum, follow the requirements set forth under the current law to conduct invocations

in a non-sectarian manner.

Please let us know what steps the City of Waukegan intends to take to rectify this situation.

Sincerely,

Tom Cara

President

Freedom From Religion Foundation Metropolitan Chicago Chapter

P.O. Box 480283

Niles, IL 60714

E-Mail: tcara@ffrfmcc.org

Phone: 847-692-7439

cc: Patrick Elliott, Staff Attorney, Freedom From Religion Foundation