The Kenai Peninsula Borough’s legal department is carefully considering the next step following the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling that the KPB Assembly’s prayer policy violates the State Constitution.
During Tuesday’s Regular Assembly meeting, KPB Mayor Charlie Peirce encouraged assembly members to read the 30 plus page court ruling in it’s entirety while the mayor’s office works with the legal department to recommend a course of action for the assembly to vote on.
KPB Mayor Pierce: “We’ll go through the legal department and look at the existing policy or practices that are being followed and we will follow the directives of the court on the interim. And, again, you’ll have an opportunity to decide whether you choose to appeal the ruling or not.”
In 2016 the borough assembly changed their meeting policy in an attempt to be inclusive of all religious groups.
However, after an athiest, a member of the Satanic Temple and a member of Homer’s small Jewish community were denied their applications to offer an invocation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska took the issue to court.
The ACLU of Alaska filed the case in December of 2016 “in order to ensure that the constitutional rights of every Kenai Peninsula Borough resident are protected”, according to their website.