The North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union wants the state's General Assembly to refrain from opening its sessions with prayers that favor one religion over others.
In a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Roy Cooper, the civil liberties group says federal courts have repeatedly affirmed that such sectarian prayers are unconstitutional.
In the most recent example, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling that Forsyth County commissioners could not begin meetings with Christian prayers.
Katy Parker, legal director of the state ACLU, says the group has received multiple complaints about the use of Christian prayers to open sessions of the General Assembly.
Calls to leaders in the House and Senate were not immediately returned Thursday.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
