Virginia State Police chaplains will be able to pray again to Jesus, or any other religious figure, at public meetings.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican who yesterday reappointed Col. W. Steven Flaherty as state police superintendent, had asked Flaherty to reinstate the sectarian prayers.
In September 2008, when Democrat Timothy M. Kaine was governor, Flaherty, citing federal court rulings, directed the department's 17 chaplains to use nondenominational language at events such as trooper graduation ceremonies and public memorial services for officers who died in the line of duty.
That caused an uproar, and six of the 17 chaplains resigned. The agency now has nine chaplains, all of whom are Christians, a state police spokeswoman said.
Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said the reinstatement almost certainly will lead to a lawsuit.
The Family Foundation of Virginia and the Virginia Christian Alliance sought the reversal of the 2-year-old policy.
"The governor does not believe the state should tell chaplains of any faith how to pray," said Tucker Martin, director of communications for McDonnell. "Religious officials of all faiths should be allowed to pray according to the dictates of their consciences."
He said the new policy applies only to prayers delivered at law-enforcement memorial events or graduations.
Martin noted that since 1979 and, until two years ago, state police had permitted those participating in the volunteer chaplain program to pray in accordance with their own faith. He said this puts the chaplains in the same position as those in the U.S. military, Virginia National Guard and other law-enforcement agencies.
But the ACLU's Willis said the sectarian prayer ban was initiated two years ago after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a similar policy requiring only nonsectarian prayers at the opening of Fredericksburg City Council meetings.
Inevitably, under the reinstated policy, some chaplains will offer sectarian prayers at police-sponsored events, he said. That will trigger a lawsuit, he added.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said the new prayer policy, after the Fredericksburg case, probably violates the First Amendment.
"His decision to act in this area when the General Assembly refused to legislate is also inconsistent with his position on discrimination involving sexual orientation," Tobias added.
McDonnell said he could not issue an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation because the General Assembly had refused to ban such discrimination.
The legislature in 2009 and 2010 killed bills to allow sectarian prayers by the chaplains.
Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, called the Kaine administration policy "discriminatory."
"I don't think the vast majority of Virginians are offended when someone expresses their faith publicly, regardless of what their faith is," Cobb said.
But Del. David L. Englin, D-Alexandria, who is Jewish, said the McDonnell policy is "an affront to all Virginians of minority religion or no religion."
It will allow "agents of the government to foist their religious beliefs on others," he said.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said that either policy -- nonsectarian prayers or sectarian prayers -- is constitutional.
"It's a policy decision, not a legal decision," he said.
Donald Blake, chairman of the Virginia Christian Alliance, said: "We kind of knew Bob McDonnell would make this decision before he was elected. There are a lot of happy Virginians and, I imagine, chaplains after this."
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.
Staff writer Jim Nolan contributed to this report.
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