HPP: Legislator from Tennessee has proposed a law that would make it feasible for the Ten Commandments and other texts to be publicly displayed in public schools across the state of Tennessee.
This bill would also make it permissible for other scriptures to be displayed in public schools.
The Ten Commandments, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution of Tennessee, and “other historically significant documents” would be able to be displayed in public schools and public charter schools if Representative Michael Hale, a Republican from Smithville, were to introduce House Bill 047 in December.
This bill would make it possible for these documents to be displayed in public schools.
In order to “educate students on the historical significance and common cultural heritage” that the papers represent for the students, schools, state, or country, the bill stipulates that the documents must be displayed in a “prominent” area. This is done in order to fulfill the purpose of the bill.
It is stated in the law that schools that are interested in participating would receive hard copies “free of charge” if they are willing to do so.
“Local communities and officials know what’s best for their students and families,” Hale stated in a statement to The Tennessean. “House Bill 47 reinforces this by giving local school boards and charter schools the option, not the requirement, to display historically significant documents like the Ten Commandments, the Declaration of Independence, and the state Constitution. The bill empowers communities and elected officials to make decisions for their schools and protect their authority to do so.”
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Hale’s law is, to a large extent, a reflection of initiatives made in other states, such as Louisiana and Oklahoma, which compel that schools show or make use of the Ten Commandments within their classrooms rather than merely permitting such activities.
These states include Louisiana and Oklahoma.
After determining that the bill contradicted the precedent that has been established by the courts in the past, a federal judge declared that the Louisiana law, which was adopted in May and mandates that the Ten Commandments be exhibited in schools, was invalidated in court.
The judge’s decision was made after the judge determined that the statute violated the precedent.
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