Brevard County pauses prayer at meetings after federal ruling

A federal judge ruled against a Brevard County rule that only allowed faith-based groups to lead invocation before county commission meetings.

In a five-page ruling, U.S. District Judge John Antoon said the county violated the religious protection clause of the first amendment by not allowing atheist and non-faith-based groups to lead the invocation.

In 2015, the commission voted unanimously to put the rule into place. David Williams of the Central Florida Freethought Community along with several other groups then filed the lawsuit.

During a county commission meeting last week, commissioners voted unanimously to appeal the decision. Until that appeal can go through, commissioners said they would begin meetings with a moment of silence instead.