Following a three-month hiatus, the West Valley City Council has quietly resumed praying at all of its public meetings.
City Manager John Patterson said interdenominational invocations will be offered at the start of regular City Council meetings and other official sessions, pending the outcome of Salt Lake City's court battle over prayers.West Valley City suspended its invocations after 3rd District Judge J. Dennis Frederick ruled on March 4 that the Salt Lake City Council's opening prayers violated the Utah Constitution. The practice had been challenged by the Utah Chapter of the Society of Separationists.
Although Frederick's ban applied only to Salt Lake City, a number of communities throughout Utah reviewed, suspended or modified their procedures rather than risk a legal entanglement. However, the attorney representing the Society of Separationists later said no more lawsuits would be filed while the Utah Supreme Court reviews the case.
West Valley City Councilwoman Margaret Peterson raised the matter of invocations on June 2, asking that the suspension be reviewed. The council decided to restore prayer on its agenda.