Legal Opinion
Fields v. Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
Decided April 28, 2017No. CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:16-CV-1764PublishedCited by 5 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Chief Judge Conner
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives commences legislative sessions with an opening invocation delivered by either, a member of the House or a guest chaplain. Pursuant to an internal House rule, a guest chaplain must be “a member of. a regularly established church or religious organization.”1 The Speaker of the House interprets this rule to.exclude “non-adherents” and “nonbelievers” from the guest chaplain program.2 Plaintiffs are atheist, agnostic, Secular Humanist, and freethinking individuals who have been denied the opportunity to .deliver an . opening…
2Cases cited70 opinions
- Ashcroft v. IqbalSupreme Court of the United States · 2009
- Bell Atlantic Corp. v. TwomblySupreme Court of the United States · 2007
- Lujan v. Defenders of WildlifeSupreme Court of the United States · 1992
- Warth v. SeldinSupreme Court of the United States · 1975
- Phillips v. County of AlleghenyCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 2008
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3Cited by5 opinions
- Peter Bormuth v. County of JacksonCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 2017
- Williamson v. Brevard CountyDistrict Court, M.D. Florida · 2017
- Fields v. Speaker of the Pa. House of RepresentativesDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania · 2018
- Blueberry Funding, LLC, and Alan Miller, individually v. Isaac M. Neuberger, et al.District Court, D. New Jersey · 2025
- Brian Fields v. Speaker of the PennsylvaniaCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 2019