Louisiana —
Meetings conducted by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries will no longer open with sectarian prayers, thanks to FFRF.
A community member informed FFRF of a prayer at an official Wildlife & Fisheries event. The complainant referenced a specific instance on March 24, 2024, at an event titled “Becoming an Outdoor Woman.” According to the complainant, the event opened with prayer over a speaker. The prayer made the complainant and others uncomfortable as they did not share the sectarian religious views of the speaker.
“A prayer’s popularity is immaterial; courts have continually reaffirmed that the rights of minorities are protected by the Constitution,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to the department.
While FFRF reached out to the department multiple times throughout the year, there was no response. Finally, in April of this year, the complainant reported that at the more recent Becoming an Outdoor Woman event, there were no prayers or other religious activities during the entire group meetings.
