On March 18, 2025, the Ventura City Council hosted a City Council Closed Session/Regular Meeting in the City Council Chambers. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Tarin Swain signed up to give public comments addressing item 15 entitled “Policy Consideration—The Community Autonomy, Rights, and Equity (CARE) Policy.” The policy addressed “reproductive rights, immigrant residents, gender-diverse individuals and all residents of the City of Ventura from restrictive laws and external enforcement affairs.”
When Mrs. Swain, a devout Christian, stood at the podium to give her comment for the allotted 60 seconds, she felt compelled by religious conviction to use part of her time to pray. She had prepared a speech, but moved by her conscience, she began to pray. Immediately the room became chaotic; her prayer was met with booing, hissing, and screaming from the audience. She continued to pray through the disruptions until she was interrupted and told to stop by the mayor presiding over the meeting. The mayor told her, “We [the City of Ventura] don’t do prayer.” Speaking for roughly 6 seconds of Mrs. Swain’s time, the mayor told Mrs. Swain to finish her comments. Yet even after the mayor’s silencing of her religious speech, Swain continued to pray and finished her public comment until the conclusion of her allotted time.
During the meeting, over 130 speakers were allowed to present their viewpoints using different mediums of expression ranging from signs depicting aborted and dismembered fetuses, gestures of the sign of the cross, and even interpretations of a bird puppet’s squawks. Other speakers made comments from opposing religious viewpoints without interruption, and yet, the minute Mrs. Swain began to pray, her prayer was declared a bridge too far by the City of Ventura.
“Over 100 people spoke, including someone using a puppet, but the one person silenced was our client who simply offered a prayer,” remarked Erin Smith, Associate Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “It’s gross viewpoint discrimination when the City of Ventura allows all types of expression during public comments except for a religious prayer.”
In the demand letter, First Liberty attorneys state, “Private citizens speak on their own behalf, not on behalf of the government. Therefore, the rules that govern the prayer practices of legislative bodies do not apply to citizens’ public comments.”
News Release
For Immediate Release: 4.22.25
Contact: John Manning, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
(Tarin Swain testifies during public comment at Ventura, California
city council meeting March 18, 2025. Photo courtesy of First Liberty Institute.)
California Mayor Who Allowed Puppet During Public Comment but Stopped Citizen from Praying Warned Action Illegal
Mayor allowed over 100 people to comment, including man with puppet, but told Tarin Swain to stop praying as crowd booed.
Ventura, CA—First Liberty Institute sent a letter to Ventura, California Mayor Dr. Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios after she interrupted and ordered First Liberty client Tarin Swain to stop praying during public comment at a recent city council meeting. Swain was booed by the crowd and the mayor interrupted her several times. The letter demands the mayor apologize to Swain, repeal any policy that prohibits prayer, and provide written assurance that the City Council will allow speakers at the podium to engage in prayer.
You can read the letter here.
“Over 100 people spoke, including someone using a puppet, but the one person silenced was our client who simply offered a prayer,” said Erin Smith, Associate Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “It’s gross viewpoint discrimination when the City of Ventura allows all types of expression during public comments except for a religious prayer. Silencing a private citizen’s prayer during public comment time at a public meeting is abhorrent to the First Amendment.”
Last month, the Ventura City Council hosted a City Council Closed Session/Regular Meeting in the City Council Chambers. Swain signed up to speak during public comment.
As Swain, a devout Christian, stood at the podium to give her comment for the 60 seconds she was allocated like the other 130 commenters, she felt compelled by religious conviction to use part of her time to pray. She had prepared a speech, but bound by her conscience, she began to pray. Immediately the room became chaotic; her prayer was met with booing, hissing, and screaming from the audience. She continued to pray through the disruptions until she was interrupted and told to stop by the mayor presiding over the meeting who told her, “We [the City of Ventura] don’t do prayer.”
The letter states, “Private citizens speak on their own behalf, not on behalf of the government. Therefore, the rules that govern the prayer practices of legislative bodies do not apply to citizens’ public comments. Any concerns about observers believing the City Council has ‘endorsed’ prayers would also be misplaced, as the Supreme Court no longer considers the appearance of endorsement in evaluating Establishment Clause claims. The Establishment Clause is not violated merely because a government entity permits private religious expression or speech.”
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact John Manning at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
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