N.C. Senate endorses Ten Commandments displays in schools

By The Associated Press

07.19.01

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RALEIGH, N.C. — The state Senate has waded into the dispute over the Ten Commandments, approving a bill to let schools display the religious codes. Opponents say the measure likely would lead to lawsuits.

The measure would let school systems decide whether to display documents and other historical objects that have formed and influenced the American government and legal system.

While displays of the Ten Commandments in schools have been struck down repeatedly by the courts, state Sen. Walter Dalton says he and legislative staff members have created language he believes would overcome constitutional questions.

"It should not be an effort to indoctrinate any child ... but by the same token we should not be denying our history that some religious documents have had an effect on the rule of law," Dalton, D-Rutherford, said before the bill was approved July 17 by a vote of 44-6 and returned to the House on a voice vote.

The bill directs that any display not promote one religion over another, although the version amended in a Senate committee two weeks ago only identified the Ten Commandments.

Concerns that identifying only the commandments would endorse Judeo-Christian tenets prompted senators to approve another amendment to identify other documents such as the Magna Carta and Justinian Code along with the commandments in the bill text. The bill also would require such displays to include the First Amendment.

That didn't assuage a handful of senators who voted against the Senate amendment and the bill, calling it dangerously close to muddying the line between religion and government.

"We are about to open ourselves up to another expensive lawsuit that we can't afford," said state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange. Her own amendment that would have eliminated the entire section related to the school displays failed 15-35.

The federal courts have repeatedly rejected displays of the Ten Commandments in public schools, most recently those in Harlan County, Ky.

Deborah Ross with the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union questioned the bill's lawfulness since its underlying purpose is to get the Ten Commandments posted in the schools.

Schools already can post the Ten Commandments if they are integrated into the curriculum as an appropriate study of history or civilization, she said. The ACLU would mount a legal challenge if the bill became law and a citizen complained when a school system began displaying the commandments, Ross said.

The House passed a bill earlier this year allowing the posting of the Ten Commandments in the public schools.

The Senate decided to use a different House bill that requires the public schools to teach two years of North Carolina history as its vehicle for proposing the display of the commandments. The Senate bill also requires citizenship and character education in school curriculum and local boards to adopt "reasonable dress codes" for students.

The House would have to agree to the Senate changes or reach a compromise.

Some opponents implied the bill was being used to cater to religious conservatives and would ultimately have school boards taking sides over what documents had religious significance.

"We find ourselves arguing over the use, the profane use of religious symbols for what I believe our political purposes," said state Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg. He ultimately voted for the bill after additional legal documents were identified.

Update

N.C. lawmakers OK Ten Commandments bill
Governor says he will sign measure allowing schools to display religious codes along with other historical documents.  07.27.01

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N.C. lawmakers consider bill allowing schools to post Ten Commandments
Civil libertarians say provision requiring that displays emphasize tenets’ historical, rather than religious, significance doesn’t allay First Amendment concerns.  07.06.01