Commissioner defies court, references Jesus in prayer before meeting

Carroll County Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier said she didn't mind going to jail over her beliefs.

Frazier and the rest of the commissioners were in the habit of staring their meetings with a prayer.

But The American Humanist Association didn’t like the practice and filed a lawsuit.

They specifically didn’t like them using "the name of a specific deity associated with any specific faith or belief."

Judge William Quarles Jr. agreed and ruled the group could only use non-sectarian prayers.

This week Frazier said enough is enough. “I’m willing to go to jail over it,” she said before she began to pray. “I believe this is a fundamental of America, and if we cease to believe that our rights come from God, and we’ve been told to be careful, then we’ll be careful all the way to communism.”

Frazier then read a prayer written by George Washington before the meeting began.

Immigration lawyer Bruce Hake was in the audience. "Commissioner Frazier spoke at length in brazen defiance of the federal judge's order," he said.

The American Humanist Association responded by sending a letter of protest. They say if Frazier repeats the prayer they’ll ask that she be held in contempt of court.

See the prayer and her comments here.