Sacramento County, California, has abandoned efforts to keep God out of some weddings.
The practice came to the surface after the fact. Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) explains what happened. "An individual was wanting to preside over the wedding of a relative, so he went down to the Sacramento County registrar's office that is responsible for certifying to do weddings," the attorney states. According to a PJI press release, Manuel Zamorano received permission to do that, but was shocked when told it was not permissible to mention God in the ceremony, since the permit came from a government department. Accompanying the instructions from the county was the following statement: "You may use any ceremony of your choice as long as the ceremony does not have any religious connotations." Dacus tells OneNewsNow his firm sent a demand letter to the agency explaining their client's rights. "What they did and what they were requiring was a clear violation of this man's First Amendment rights," says Dacus, "and they went ahead and decided after [receiving the letter] to rescind that policy, realizing that they cannot censor individuals conducting weddings from mentioning God in the wedding." Dacus stresses that is a decision for the couple -- not the government.
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