UPDATED 8/9/2012 Missourians Approve “This Homework Is Against My Religion” Amendment

Illustration Credit: 123rf stock image

UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long. The day after voters approved Amendment 2, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging it as unconstitutional. Although this challenge relates to prisoner rights, challenges may also be forthcoming regarding the new right this amendment gives to students to refuse school assignments they say violate their religion: http://tinyurl.com/9dlv3em

By an overwhelming margin, Missourians have approved adding a new amendment to the state constitution.

Those voting “yes” probably think of it as the “right-to-pray” amendment. But if you look at the full text and not just the ballot summary, it’s really the “this homework is against my religion” amendment.

For background information, please see the editorial we published earlier today: https://kceducationenterprise.org/2012/08/07/august-7-vote/

The vote wasn’t anywhere near close. By 10 p.m. this evening, with most of the votes counted, more than 425,000 Missourians had voted “yes” while just under 66,000 had voted “no.”

Last month, two Missouri-based chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit charging that the ballot language was misleading. However, the judge did not rule in their favor. Most likely, now that the amendment has passed, it will be heading back to court with allegations that it confuses the boundary between church and state.

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