The Alabama Senate quickly passed a bill Tuesday that would require public schools to post the Ten Commandments after voting immediately to block a Democrat filibuster.
Senate Bill 99, sponsored by Senator Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, would require posters including the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all classrooms for students in fifth grade and above, as well as in common areas.
A sample poster Kelley read on the Senate floor included references to the Mayflower Compact, the Northwest Ordinance and quotes from John Quincy Adams—and a disclaimer stating that the state is not establishing a religion and that students are free to practice the religion of their choice.
“The bill ensures that students see the full contents of American development, including the moral and philosophical influences that shape our legal system. Constitutional foundations are bound by this,” Kelley said.
Kelley also said the Ten Commandments influenced the ancient Code of Hammurabi, which historians say was written hundreds of years before the Ten Commandments.
The posters would not be funded with taxpayer dollars and instead would rely on donations, language apparently written to make the legislation more resistant to court challenges. Courts have ruled that the Ten Commandments cannot be posted in public schools as religious displays, but can be included as part of a broader historical display.
The bill now moves to the House.
