Voters in Alabama will head to the polls in November to decide on a ballot proposal that seeks to allow the public display of the Ten Commandments on government sites.
Alabama lawmakers from the House of Representatives approved the proposed measure in a 66-19 vote. Senators also signed their approval on the proposal that Republican Sen. Gerald Dial filed, which no longer requires the governor's signature.
Instead, the proposal will go to the ballots in November. The proposal's provisions stipulate some amendments to Alabama's constitution that will permit the erection of Ten Commandment monuments in government schools and state-owned buildings. The provisions also stipulate that funding these monuments won't come from government funds but private funds.
Sen. Dial has proposed similar measures to amend the constitution in the past. Democrats opposing Dial's bill remarked that the move is an "old trick" from Republicans, especially during state elections to gather public votes.
"It's been used many times before," Democratic Rep. Marcel Black said. "It was used on the same-sex marriage deal, except we didn't wait until November."
Lawmakers also argued that while no government funding will be used to put any Ten Commandments monuments in schools, the government would still be vulnerable to lawsuits. In these cases, it's the school districts that will pay for any litigation.
Democrats also cited the case of Roy Moore, the former Chief Justice of Alabama, who lost his position in 2003 after a series of litigations. It sprung from his refusal to comply with the Supreme Court order to take down a Ten Commandments monument at the Montgomery judicial building.
Lawmakers opposing the bill stated that Supreme Court has long ruled on cases like this, as public places remain open to all religions to distinctly separate the state and the church. Other representatives also argued that it's more important to live by the Ten Commandments, rather than to simply display them in public.
"The devil can display the Ten Commandments," Democratic Rep. Berry Forte remarked.
