AL
Alabama Senate Bill SB166

Alabama 2025 Regular Session

Alabama Senate Bill SB166 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 SB166INTRODUCED
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33 SB166
44 7DFKE2E-1
55 By Senators Kelley, Kitchens, Smitherman, Roberts, Butler,
66 Allen, Waggoner, Gudger, Livingston, Chesteen, Sessions,
77 Shelnutt, Weaver
88 RFD: Education Policy
99 First Read: 12-Feb-25
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1616 7 7DFKE2E-1 02/05/2025 GP (L)lg 2025-592
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1818 First Read: 12-Feb-25
1919 SYNOPSIS:
2020 This bill would require each local board of
2121 education and the governing body of each public
2222 institution of higher education to display the Ten
2323 Commandments and a context statement in a common area
2424 of each school under its jurisdiction.
2525 This bill would provide that no local board of
2626 education or public institution of higher education is
2727 required to use its funds to comply with the display
2828 requirement and that it may accept donations to comply
2929 with the display requirement.
3030 This bill would require the State Department of
3131 Education to identify and publicize free resources that
3232 local boards of education may use to comply with the
3333 display requirement.
3434 This bill would require the State Board of
3535 Education and the Alabama Commission on Higher
3636 Education to adopt rules.
3737 A BILL
3838 TO BE ENTITLED
3939 AN ACT
4040 Relating to public K-12 schools and public institutions
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7070 Relating to public K-12 schools and public institutions
7171 of higher education; to provide Legislative findings; to add
7272 Sections 16-1-20.7 and 16-5-16 to the Code of Alabama 1975; to
7373 require each local board of education and public institution
7474 of higher education to display the Ten Commandments and a
7575 context statement in schools; to provide for the use of
7676 donations to comply with the display requirement; to require
7777 the State Department of Education to publicize free resources
7878 available to schools to comply with this act; and to require
7979 the State Board of Education and the Alabama Commission on
8080 Higher Education to adopt rules.
8181 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
8282 Section 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all
8383 of the following:
8484 (1) In 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States
8585 recognized in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 688 (2005)
8686 that it is permissible to display the Ten Commandments on
8787 government property.
8888 (2) In 2018, Alabama voters overwhelmingly approved an
8989 amendment to the state's constitution authorizing public
9090 displays of the Ten Commandments. Section 3.02 of the
9191 Constitution of Alabama of 2022, provides that "property
9292 belonging to the state may be used to display the Ten
9393 Commandments, and the right of a public school and public body
9494 to display the Ten Commandments on property owned or
9595 administrated by a public school or public body in this state
9696 is not restrained or abridged."
9797 (3) In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States
9898 further recognized in American Legion v. American Humanist
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128128 further recognized in American Legion v. American Humanist
129129 Association, 588 U.S. 29, 53 (2019) that the Ten Commandments
130130 "have historical significance as one of the foundations of our
131131 legal system." The court also ruled that the displaying of the
132132 Ten Commandments on public property may have "multiple
133133 purposes" such as "historical significance" and represent a
134134 "common cultural heritage." Id, 588 U.S. at 54.
135135 (4) Further, in 2022, the Supreme Court of the United
136136 States in Kennedy v. Bremerton, 597 U.S. _ (2022) provided
137137 that the Establishment Clause may be interpreted by "reference
138138 to historical practices and understandings," and that it "does
139139 not 'compel the government to purge from the public sphere'
140140 anything an objective observer could reasonably infer endorses
141141 or 'partakes of the religious.'"
142142 (5) Recognizing the historical role of the Ten
143143 Commandments accords with our nation's history and faithfully
144144 reflects the understanding of the founders of our nation with
145145 respect to the necessity of civic morality to a functional
146146 self-government.
147147 (6) Including the Ten Commandments and other documents
148148 generated during the formative years of our government in the
149149 education of our children is part of our state and national
150150 history, culture, and tradition. A document setting forth
151151 historical truths about the foundation of American government
152152 that includes the Ten Commandments is not only consistent with
153153 historical practices, but also accurately reflects historical
154154 understandings.
155155 (7) The text of the Ten Commandments set forth in this
156156 act is identical to the text of the Ten Commandments monument
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186186 act is identical to the text of the Ten Commandments monument
187187 that was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in
188188 Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 688 (2005).
189189 (8) The Mayflower Compact of 1620 was America's first
190190 written constitution and made a covenant with Almighty God to
191191 "form a civil body politic." This was the first purely
192192 American document of self-government and affirmed the link
193193 between civil society and God.
194194 (9) The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided a method
195195 of admitting new states to the Union from the territory as the
196196 country expanded to the Pacific. The Ordinance "extended the
197197 fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty" to the
198198 territories and stated that "[r]eligion, morality, and
199199 knowledge, being necessary to good government and the
200200 happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education
201201 shall forever be encouraged."
202202 (10) It is the intent of the Legislature to apply the
203203 decision set forth by the Supreme Court in Van Orden v. Perry
204204 to continue this rich tradition and ensure that the students
205205 in our public schools may understand and appreciate the
206206 foundational documents of our state and national government.
207207 (11) The Supreme Court of the United States
208208 acknowledged that the Ten Commandments may be displayed on
209209 local government property when a private donation is made for
210210 the purchase of the historical monument. Pleasant Grove City,
211211 Utah v. Summum, 555 U.S. 460 (2006).
212212 (12) It is the intent of the Legislature that this act
213213 does not create an unfunded mandate on any public school
214214 governing authority. Local boards of education are encouraged
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244244 governing authority. Local boards of education are encouraged
245245 to use documents that are printed and made available to the
246246 schools free of charge.
247247 Section 2. Section 16-1-20.7 is added to the Code of
248248 Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
249249 ยง16-1-20.7
250250 (a) No later than January 1, 2026, each local board of
251251 education shall display the Ten Commandments in each school
252252 under its jurisdiction. The display must be placed in an entry
253253 way or other common area in the school, such as the school
254254 library. The nature of the display shall be determined by each
255255 local board of education, with the minimum requirement that
256256 the Ten Commandments shall be displayed on a poster or framed
257257 document that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches. The text of
258258 the Ten Commandments shall be the central focus of the poster
259259 or framed document and shall be printed in a large, easily
260260 readable font.
261261 (b)(1) The text displayed pursuant to subsection (a)
262262 shall read as follows:
263263 "The Ten Commandments
264264 I AM the LORD thy God.
265265 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
266266 Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
267267 Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in
268268 vain.
269269 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
270270 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be
271271 long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
272272 Thou shalt not kill.
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302302 Thou shalt not kill.
303303 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
304304 Thou shalt not steal.
305305 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
306306 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt
307307 not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
308308 maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy
309309 neighbor's."
310310 (2) The Ten Commandments shall be displayed with the
311311 following context statement:
312312 "The History of the Ten Commandments in American Public
313313 Education
314314 The Ten Commandments were a prominent part of American
315315 public education for almost three centuries. Around the year
316316 1688, The New England Primer became the first published
317317 American textbook and was the equivalent of a first grade
318318 reader. The New England Primer was used in public schools
319319 throughout the United States for more than 150 years to teach
320320 Americans to read and contained more than 40 questions about
321321 the Ten Commandments.
322322 The Ten Commandments were also included in public
323323 school textbooks published by educator William McGuffey, a
324324 noted university president and professor. A version of his
325325 famous McGuffey Readers was written in the early 1800s and
326326 became one of the most popular textbooks in the history of
327327 American education, selling more than 100 million copies.
328328 Copies of the McGuffey Readers are still available today.
329329 The Ten Commandments also appeared in textbooks
330330 published by Noah Webster which were widely used in American
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360360 published by Noah Webster which were widely used in American
361361 public schools along with America's first comprehensive
362362 dictionary that Webster also published. His textbook, The
363363 American Spelling Book, contained the Ten Commandments and
364364 sold more than 100 million copies for use by public school
365365 children all across the nation and was still available for use
366366 in American public schools in the year 1975."
367367 (c) A local board of education may also display the
368368 Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the
369369 Northwest Ordinance along with the Ten Commandments.
370370 (d) This section does not require a local board of
371371 education to spend its funds to purchase the displays required
372372 by this section. In order to fund the displays free of charge,
373373 a local board of education may accept donated funds to
374374 purchase the displays or may accept donated displays.
375375 (e) The State Department of Education shall identify
376376 appropriate resources for local boards of education to comply
377377 with this section free of charge. Once identified, the
378378 department shall list the free resources on the department's
379379 website.
380380 (f) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to
381381 implement this section.
382382 Section 3. Section 16-5-16 is added to the Code of
383383 Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
384384 (a) No later than January 1, 2026, the governing body
385385 of each public institution of higher education shall require
386386 each institution under its jurisdiction to display the Ten
387387 Commandments. The display must be placed in an entry way or
388388 other common area of the school, such as the school library.
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418418 other common area of the school, such as the school library.
419419 At a minimum, the Ten Commandments shall:
420420 (1) Read the same as the language provided in Section
421421 16-1-20.7(b);
422422 (2) Be displayed on a poster or framed document that is
423423 at least 11 inches by 14 inches;
424424 (3) Be the central focus of the poster or framed
425425 document; and
426426 (4) Be printed in a large, easily readable font.
427427 (b) This section does not require the governing body of
428428 a public institution of higher education or any public
429429 institution of higher education to spend its funds to purchase
430430 the displays required by this section. In order to fund the
431431 displays free of charge, a public institution of higher
432432 education or its governing body may spend donated funds to
433433 purchase the displays or may accept donated displays.
434434 (c) The Alabama Commission on Higher Education shall
435435 adopt rules to implement this section.
436436 (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that all
437437 constitutionally created boards of trustees comply with the
438438 requirements of this section.
439439 Section 4. This act shall become effective on October
440440 1, 2025.
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