Ex-senator settles prayer recitation suit

Monday, June 2, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Former state Sen. Lori Lipman Brown, D-Las Vegas, announced today that she has settled her defamation lawsuit against four of her ex-Republican colleagues.

All four Republicans acknowledged in writing that they had misled voters in 1994 about Brown.

The 3 1/2-year-old suit stemmed from Republican attacks that Brown did not participate in morning Senate prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance during the 1993 legislative session.

Brown, who is Jewish, denied the allegations and said she recited her own prayers when denominational prayers referring to Jesus Christ were recited on the floor of the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio of Reno, Assistant Minority Leader Ray Rawson of Las Vegas and former state Sen. Sue Lowden of Las Vegas signed a letter in 1994 taking Brown to task.

Brown's Republican opponent, Kathy Augustine, used the letter in campaign ads on her way to unseating Brown in 1994.

Brown filed suit a few days before the election.

This weekend, following a mediation conference with Washoe District Judge Brent Adams, Brown agreed to drop the suit after Augustine and her fellow Republicans wrote her letters acknowledging they had gone too far with their accusations during the 1994 campaign.

"The purpose of my lawsuit was to make the truth known," Brown said today. "This settlement accomplishes that purpose.

"We've waited 3 1/2 years to clear my name. I'm pleased that the defendants agreed to explain in writing what actually occurred."