Fields v. Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

251 F. Supp. 3d 772, 2017 WL 1541664, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64711
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 28, 2017
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:16-CV-1764
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 251 F. Supp. 3d 772 (Fields v. Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fields v. Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 251 F. Supp. 3d 772, 2017 WL 1541664, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64711 (M.D. Pa. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Chief Judge Conner

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives commences legislative sessions with an opening invocation delivered by either, a member of the House or a guest chaplain. Pursuant to an internal House rule, a guest chaplain must be “a member of. a regularly established church or religious organization.”1 The Speaker of the House interprets this rule to.exclude “non-adherents” and “nonbelievers” from the guest chaplain program.2 Plaintiffs are atheist, agnostic, Secular Humanist, and freethinking individuals who have been denied the opportunity to .deliver an . opening invocation due to.the nontheistic nature of their beliefs. Plaintiffs challenge .the exclusionary House policy under the First, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

I. Background

Brian Fields, Paul Tucker, Deana Weaver, Scott Rhoades, and Joshua Neiderhiser are nontheists -who actively adhere to and practice their respective beliefs.3 As employed herein, our nontheist designation includes atheists, agnostics, Secular Humanists, freethinkers, and other persons who do not believe in a deity.4 Many features of plaintiffs’ respective ideologies parallel the practice of traditional theistic religions: plaintiffs assemble to explore [776]*776and discuss their beliefs, study texts and films anent their belief systems, observe annual celebrations, and coordinate service activities and community outreach.5

Plaintiffs are leaders in their belief communities. Fields is president of Pennsylvania Nonbelievers, Tucker is founder and chief organizer of Dillsburg Area Freethinkers, and Rhoades is founder and president of Lancaster Freethought Society.6 These nontheist organizations and their leaders represent the functional equivalent of traditional religious congregations in the lives of their members.7 For example, Rhoades and Neiderhiser are ordained Humanist Celebrants who regularly perform wedding ceremonies and memorial services.8

Each of the individual plaintiffs would like to deliver an invocation before the House.9 Plaintiffs intend to offer uplifting and inspirational messages—to champion such unobjectionable themes as equality, unity, and common decency; and to demonstrate that nontheists can offer meaningful commentary on morality and reflections valuable to public governance.10

A. The Opening Invocation

The House convenes daily legislative sessions which are open to the public and streamed live on the House website.11 Members of the public attending the sessions observe proceedings from the visitor gallery located in a balcony at the rear of the House chamber.12 Fields and Rhoades have attended daily sessions in the past and intend to do so in the future.13

Before the opening invocation, the Speaker directs members of the House and visitors in the gallery to rise.14 Members of the House and most visitors oblige,15 but Fields and Rhoades apparently prefer to remain seated.16 On one occasion, the Speaker publicly singled out Fields and Rhoades and ordered them to rise for the invocation.17 When they refused, the Speaker directed a legislative security officer to “pressure” them to stand.18 Plaintiffs believe that the Speaker’s direction to rise coerces them (and others) to recognize the validity of religious beliefs with which they disagree.19

B. The Guest Chaplain Policy

House members may nominate guest chaplains by submitting a request to the Speaker’s office.20 The request must identify the proposed chaplain’s name, house of worship or affiliated organization, and contact information.21 The Speaker reviews and selects guest chaplains from among [777]*777the submitted nominees.22 The Speaker then sends a form letter to selected chaplains which asks them to “craft a prayer that is respectful of all religious beliefs.”23 The Speaker does not review the content of an opening invocation before it is delivered.24 Guest chaplains receive a commemorative gavel and a photograph with the House member who nominated them.25

Between January 8, 2008 and February 9, 2016, the House convened 678 daily sessions and began 575 of them with an invocation.26 Members of the House delivered 310 of those invocations, and guest chaplains delivered the remaining 265 invocations.27 Of the guest chaplains, 238 were Christian clergy, twenty-three were Jewish rabbis, and three were of the Muslim faith.28 Only one guest chaplain was not “recognizably affiliated” with a particular religion, but that person nonetheless delivered a monotheistic message.29 According to the complaint, no invocation was free of theistic content, and none had content associated with faiths other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.30

On August 12, 2014, Weaver emailed a request to her House representative on behalf of Dillsburg Area Freethinkers seeking to deliver an invocation.31 Two weeks later, Carl Silverman, a member of Pennsylvania Nonbelievers, wrote his House representative, requesting that either he or Fields be permitted to deliver an invocation on behalf of their organization.32 The Speaker denied Silverman’s request by letter dated September 25, 2014, stating that the House is not “required to allow non-adherents or nonbelievers the opportunity to serve as chaplains.”33 Weaver’s representative forwarded the Silverman response to her via email on September 26, 2014.34 Thereafter, the House amended its General Operating Rules to include House Rule 17.35 Per the new rule: “The Chaplain offering the prayer shall be a member of a regularly established church or religious organization or shall be a member of the House of Representatives.” 36

On January 9, 2015, plaintiffs’ counsel wrote to the Speaker and House Parliamentarian requesting that a representative of Pennsylvania Nonbelievers be permitted to serve as guest chaplain.37 In a response dated January 15, 2015, the Parliamentarian denied Pennsylvania Nonbelievers’ request, citing House Rule 17.38 On August 6, 2015, plaintiffs’ counsel sent a final letter to all defendants requesting that Fields, Tucker, Weaver, Rhoades, or Neid-erhiser, or a representative of their organizations, be given an opportunity to deliver [778]*778an invocation.39 By separate letter of the same date, counsel asked the Speaker and Parliamentarian to cease directing House visitors to stand for invocations.40 The Parliamentarian denied plaintiffs’ guest chaplaincy request by letter dated September, 9, 2015.41

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251 F. Supp. 3d 772, 2017 WL 1541664, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fields-v-speaker-of-the-pennsylvania-house-of-representatives-pamd-2017.