Joyner v. Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
As Legal Director of the ACLU of North Carolina, Katy Parker represented two Forsyth County residents who challenged their County Board of Commissioners’ practice of opening meetings with sectarian prayer as a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Katy won an injunction in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina, blocking the County from continuing this practice. The injunction was affirmed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, thereby ensuring that religious minorities in Forsyth County can attend county board meetings without hearing a county-sponsored prayer that is specific to the majority religion.