Cynthia Simpson sued Chesterfield County after she was excluded from a list of religious leaders allowed to pray at the Board of Supervisors' meetings. In a letter to Simpson, the county explained the invocations "are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition."
Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.
A lower court judge in 2003 ruled the county's policy violated the Constitution by stating a preference for a set of religious beliefs. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
The appeals court wrote that Chesterfield County has done a good job of including leaders from a variety of religions to offer prayers and therefore abided by the Constitution by not advancing any one faith.
"This isn't right," said Simpson, 49, a member of a local group known as the Broom Riders Association. "I've been a separation of church and stater all my life, long before I was a witch. ... That's what was driving me all along."
She said she'll appeal.
