Friday, May 04, 2018

Oklahoma Legislature Passes 10 Commandments and "Stand Your Ground" In Church Laws

This week, the Oklahoma legislature sent two bills to Gov. Mary Fallin for her signature.  HB 2177 authorizes the display of the Ten Commandments and other historical documents on public property.  The bill (full text) provides in part:
Every county, municipality, city, town, school or any other political subdivision is authorized to display, in its public buildings and on its grounds, replicas of historical documents including, but not limited to, the Ten Commandments, Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, Oklahoma Constitution and other historically significant documents in the form of statues, monuments, memorials, tablets or any other display that respects the dignity and solemnity of such documents. Such documents shall be displayed in a manner consistent with the context of other documents contained in such display.
In 2015, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that a Ten Commandments monument on the statehouse grounds violates the Oklahoma Constitution. (See prior posting.)

The legislature also sent the Governor HB2632. The bill (full text) gives Oklahomans the same right in places of worship that they now have in homes and businesses to resist intruders by the use of deadly force. Tulsa World reports on the legislature's actions.