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Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bills requiring Ten Commandments displays in Alabama schools moving forward with lawmakers
DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) — Two controversial companion bills requiring public schools around the state to display the ten commandments are making their way through the Alabama legislation. These bills would require each board of education to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in a common area of each school, like a library, in its jurisdiction. The Ten Commandments would have to be displayed in a 11 by 14 poster in 'large, easily readable font.' SB166 and HB178 moved out of the Senate and House committees, and are waiting to be put on the calendar for floor debates. The approved texts could also be displayed with the Mayflower Compact of 1620, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. According to the bills, Alabama boards of education would not have to pay for the display themselves, and instead accept donated funds or donated displays. They also dictates that the Alabama Commission on Higher Education should adopt rules to implement the bill. If the bills are signed into law, school systems must comply by January 1, 2026. A nearly identical bill was signed into law in Louisiana in 2024. However, this bill required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in each classroom around the state. New alert system could save lives of Alabama abuse victims Similar to Louisiana's law, SB166 has drawn criticism. The ACLU of Alabama says the bill is 'unconstitutional – plain and simple.' 'The First Amendment guarantees that students and their families —not politicians or the government—get to decide which religious beliefs, if any, they adopt and what role those beliefs will play in their lives. Displaying the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms blatantly violates this promise. Students can't focus on learning if they don't feel safe and welcome in their schools,' the ACLU of Alabama wrote on its website. The organization took the same stance on Louisiana's law, stating it violated the separation of church and state. In November, a federal judge blocked the pelican state's law, stating it was 'overtly religious.' WDHN's Montgomery Bureau Reporter, Ryan Hall, contributed to this article. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: Renew federalism to unite the nation
Over the last century, U.S political power has become increasingly centralized. Although some hoped centralization would increase democracy and national unity, discord defines much of our political atmosphere while the president's powers grow. None of this would surprise James Madison, known as the 'Father of the Constitution.' In 1791, Madison warned that consolidating power in the national government would inevitably increase the power of the president, silence the voice of the people and lead to national disunity. Madison realized that Congress, as a large, deliberative body, could not take on every local government issue. If Congress tried, it would become overwhelmed and would defer to the executive, who could act quickly, thus increasing the executive's powers and diminishing Congress'. Madison also predicted that the people of the United States are too diverse to speak as a whole. Hence, any expressions of the public mind would only be partial. Without a clear public voice to guide them, the national government would determine its own course. In other words, Madison foresaw a 'deep state' and the disconnect between the public and national officials. If Madison's diagnosis is correct, then the solution is not simply that Congress exerts itself more against the executive. Rather, the solution must include federalism: a division of powers that limits the national government's responsibilities and allows state and local governments to fully direct their affairs. The U.S. Constitution institutionalized federalism as a fundamental element of our governing structure. Etymologically, federalism comes from the Latin word 'foedus,' meaning treaty, pact or covenant. While novel in its separation of powers and responsibilities between two distinct governments, the philosophy and practice of federal governance goes back to ancient Israel. In the Hebrew Bible, a federal or covenant agreement bound members as equal partners to address common problems. Authority was divided, roles and responsibilities might differ, and the partnership was limited to preserve a realm of liberty for the partners. Federalism was brought to America by religious pilgrims seeking to escape Europe's top-down, centralized governments that opposed popular sovereignty and covenant-based societies. The Mayflower Compact was one of many political covenants signed by Americans in order to establish federal societies. Over the next nearly 170 years, American colonists experimented with many federal arrangements. In time, secular liberal and republican ideas were mixed into their political thinking, but a strong culture of popular sovereignty and covenant order always remained. Hence, the people of Massachusetts in 1780 described their constitution, like their Pilgrim forebears, as a 'covenant.' This long federal tradition in the American colonies culminated with the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. At the heart of these two founding documents is an agreement that binds the nation, states and people into a federal partnership to address limited collective objectives. Each partner in this agreement has different roles and responsibilities, and the partnership is limited to preserve a realm of liberty and autonomy for the states and the people. In the last century, a commitment to federal principles has been eclipsed by an emphasis on consolidated government to foster national unity and democracy. The consequence is, however, as James Madison predicted, the exact opposite. The Constitution has united our nation multiple times in the past and could again if we heed the call to renew, revitalize and recover our practice of constitutionalism, as Yuval Levin suggested in his recent book, 'American Covenant.' Among those practices is a proper understanding of, and governing commitment to, constitutional federalism. This would decrease the national government's responsibilities and allow Congress to focus on truly national concerns. It would bring the policies that affect daily lives closer to the people, thus allowing state and local governments to better represent and reflect the diverse interests and values of their citizens. Unfortunately, we have neglected this heritage and our founders' wisdom. A renewed focus on federalism animates HB488, which just passed the Utah Legislature and will provide nonpartisan federalism training for the state's government officials and otherwise assist in supporting a balanced partnership with the national government. Utah's dedication to fostering this fundamental principle of the United States' Constitution could serve as the basis for a more democratic and united political society.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio bill would require a state-approved historical document in every classroom
Mar. 12—In what's framed as a bid to expand students' grasp on history, the Ohio Senate Education Committee is considering a bill that would mandate the display of at least one state-approved historical document in every classroom in the state. The proposed list of documents within Senate Bill 34 includes: The Mayflower Compact; the Declaration of Independence; the Northwest Ordinance; the mottoes of the United States and of Ohio; the Magna Carta; the Bill of Rights; the United States Constitution; or the Articles of Confederation; and, controversially, the Ten Commandments. A school district would get to choose whichever document it wants, however, S.B. 34 would require a written explanation of the document's historical importance to accompany each display. "The reason for this bill is to expose our students to the documents which have, in America, served as the backbone of our legal and moral tradition, as a people," bill sponsor Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, told the committee in February, framing each of the documents as foundational to American government. The bill sponsor called it "inexcusable" that public schools haven't placed more focus on these documents and argued that it has denied students "the vital legal and moral essence that our children need to thrive as good American citizens." On Tuesday, opponents to the bill offered a different perspective, including ACLU of Ohio Chief Lobbyist Gary Daniels, who said S.B. 34's inclusion of the Ten Commandments made the bill a "plainly obvious attempt to impose explicit religious beliefs and practices on young, captive audiences in our public schools." "There is no way to secularize or dilute this language to strip it of its religious significance," said Daniels, who told the committee that the ACLU of Ohio would not oppose the bill if the Ten Commandments were taken off the list. Andrea Pagoda, a Jewish resident of Delaware County who testified in opposition to the bill, raised the question of which Ten Commandments school boards could pick, given that there are slight variations in Catholic, Protestant and Jewish renditions. "Posting the Ten Commandments favors one particular religious tradition as a source of inspiration and guidance in violation of the separation of church and state," she argued. Proponents of the bill — of which all have so far been religious — argued that the Ten Commandments are indeed central to the founding fathers. "The Ten Commandments are important to our religious and legal systems because they serve as a moral and ethical foundation," said Monty Lobb, executive director of the Christian Business Partnership, a division of the Center for Christian Virtue. "Obviously, they guide millions who practice Judaism and Christianity in their relationship with God and others. But let's not lose sight of or downplay the Ten Commandments' significant role in influencing a moral framework that has established fundamental principles of virtue like honesty, respect, and justice that appeal to many cultures." Monuments Outside of the display requirement, S.B. 34 would also grant schools the authority to erect a monument inscribed with "one or more of the documents on any school ground or premises," according to a nonpartisan analysis. Logistically, some of these documents would be easier to inscribe than others. Shortest on the list is America's and Ohio's mottoes — "In God We Trust" and "With God, All Things Are Possible," respectively. The Ten Commandments and the Mayflower Compact have about 200 words apiece, while the Bill of Rights has about 460 words. All other listed documents have more than 1,000 words. Who pays for it? Both the in-class displays and the monuments could be paid for under S.B. 34 by community organizations willing to donate funds. Those same organizations could donate the displays or monuments themselves, which Daniels argued would open the door widest for churches. "You see, passage of S.B. 34 is only the first step for many S.B. 34 supporters. Pass this bill, and they will focus their energy and resources on school districts across Ohio, demanding they choose the Ten Commandments as one of the documents for display, or perhaps the only one," Daniels said. Johnson, meanwhile, told the committee that the bill was written that way because "it is essential that the displays are funded and promoted by the communities themselves, having a say in what gets displayed in their schools." ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
