By: Patrick S.J.R. No. 40
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment relating to the right of
freedom of conscience.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 6, Article I, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 6. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No
man shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of
worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent. No human
authority ought, in any case whatever, to control or interfere with
the rights of conscience in matters of religion, and no preference
shall ever be given by law to any religious society or mode of
worship. The right to act or refuse to act in a manner that is
substantially motivated by a sincerely held religious belief, may
not be substantially burdened unless the government proves it has a
compelling governmental interest in infringing on the specific act
or refusal to act and has used the least restrictive means in
furthering that interest. For the purposes of this section, a
burden includes indirect burdens such as withholding benefits,
assessing penalties, or an exclusion from programs or access to
facilities. The Legislature may make laws which presume that
ordinances, rules, orders, decisions, and practices that are
applied to persons in the custody of juvenile detention centers,
correctional facilities, prisons, jails or other penal
institutions to be in furtherance of a compelling governmental
interest and the least restrictive means of furthering that
interest. But it shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass such
laws as may be necessary to protect equally every religious
denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public
worship.
SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 3, 2009.
The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment relating to the right
of freedom of conscience."