Closed session with Jesus

Jennifer McLain, a reporter at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, notices that at least one city on her beat continues to open its council meetings with a Christian prayer, despite a 6-year-old court decision that said the practice is blatantly unconstitutional. She also observes that no one seems to mind and then asks whether its worth writing about.

If she's looking for an angle, she need only scroll down to the comments section where West Covina Councilman Mike Touhey makes a semi-literate argument for why his city invokes Jesus' name before discussing zoning ordinance amendments. It's because of the Gregorian calendar.

Sectarian prayer isn't the only legally dubious part of West Covina's council meetings. The agenda outlines strict rules of decorum for audience members backed up with vague threats of prosecution. Even weirder, the agenda asserts that council members can force those who choose to speak to swear an oath under threat of perjury.