Legislation

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Pledge of Allegiance in Schools (HB 3604) (2011)

Currently, school districts are required to provide their students with the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance once a week. HB 3604 was introduced to expand the current requirement by allowing for daily recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Civil Rights Protections and Religious Exercise (HB 3609) (2011)

Introduced near the end of session, HB 3609, sponsored by Rep. Shawn Lindsay (R-Hillsboro) would have put a person’s free exercise of religion above any neutral state or local laws, including civil rights laws, if the person asserted that the law infringed on his or her religious beliefs.

RELIGIOUS DRESS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS IN OREGON (2010)

In the February 2010 supplemental session, the Oregon Legislature repealed ORS 342.650, which prohibited public school teachers from wearing religious dress in the classroom.

The ACLU of Oregon urged the Legislature to postpone consideration of repeal until 2011. Repealing this law will likely affect the religious neutrality of our public schools and we believe it is essential to fully understand the legal ramifications before taking action.