1 House Joint Resolution

2 A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 3 of

3 Article I of the State Constitution to eradicate remnants

4 of anti-religious bigotry from the State Constitution and

5 to end exclusionary funding practices that discriminate on

6 the basis of religious belief or identity.

7



8 WHEREAS, Floridians highly value tolerance and liberty in

9 all forms, and

10 WHEREAS, Floridians strongly support the right of each

11 person to practice religion according to the dictates of his or

12 her own conscience, and

13 WHEREAS, Florida is a religiously diverse state with over a

14 quarter of its population identifying as Roman Catholic and with

15 the largest Jewish population in the Southern United States, and

16 WHEREAS, the public policy of the State of Florida is to

17 support the protection and advancement of religious liberty, and

18 WHEREAS, Florida's Blaine Amendment language, the last

19 sentence of Article I, Section 3, of the current State

20 Constitution, was originally adopted in 1885 following a failed

21 attempt to adopt similar language in the United States

22 Constitution, and

23 WHEREAS, Florida's Blaine Amendment language was borne in

24 an atmosphere of, and exists as a result of, anti-Catholic

25 bigotry and animus, and

26 WHEREAS, the genesis of Florida's Blaine Amendment language

27 reflects an attempt to stifle and disrupt the constitutional

28 rights and development of the emerging Catholic minority

29 community in America, and

30 WHEREAS, the Constitutional Convention that adopted the

31 Constitution of 1885 created a more religiously and racially

32 discriminatory document than its predecessor, with the first

33 inclusion of the Blaine Amendment language alongside the racist

34 separate-but-equal doctrine, and

35 WHEREAS, the racist separate-but-equal doctrine has been

36 duly abolished and all vestiges thereof rightfully removed from

37 the State Constitution, and the people of Florida should now be

38 given the opportunity to remove the discriminatory Blaine

39 Amendment language, a lasting stain upon the state's history

40 that stands in opposition to the people's will and counter to

41 our time-honored traditions of religious liberty and freedom,

42 and

43 WHEREAS, religiously affiliated hospitals, schools,

44 adoption agencies, and other benevolent institutions have been

45 of longstanding service to the people of Florida and have

46 provided numerous services to those in need, and

47 WHEREAS, until 2004, no Florida court had ever applied the

48 State Constitution in a reported case in a manner more

49 restrictive of the use of state funds than have federal courts

50 applying the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the

51 United States Constitution, and

52 WHEREAS, Florida's Blaine Amendment is currently being

53 enforced against religious groups and organizations of all

54 denominations, stifling their development and inhibiting the

55 free exercise of religious liberty, and

56 WHEREAS, courts have prohibited religiously affiliated

57 schools from participating in state-funded education programs

58 and religious organizations from participating in state-funded

59 services to incarcerated persons, and

60 WHEREAS, such application of the Blaine Amendment language

61 jeopardizes the participation of religiously affiliated

62 hospitals and other benevolent institutions in Medicaid and

63 other public programs, and

64 WHEREAS, those institutionalized in hospitals and prisons

65 are among those most in need of spiritual nurture and

66 encouragement as well as being often dependent on state-

67 subsidized human services, and

68 WHEREAS, the enforcement of the Blaine Amendment language,

69 barring religious organizations access to state funding and

70 state-funded business on an equal basis with nonreligious

71 organizations, violates the founding principles of the United

72 States and this state as contained in the Declaration of

73 Independence and the Preamble to the State Constitution, and

74 WHEREAS, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to

75 the United States Constitution does not require any such

76 absolute restrictions on the use of public funds, and

77 WHEREAS, the Establishment Clause permits the use of public

78 funds in religious hospitals, schools, and other benevolent

79 institutions, and

80 WHEREAS, the Establishment Clause and the religion clauses

81 of the State Constitution, other than the Blaine Amendment, are

82 intended to protect the religious liberties and sentiments of

83 Floridians without inhibiting the free exercise of religion, and

84 WHEREAS, their religious convictions motivate some

85 Floridians to establish religiously affiliated schools,

86 hospitals, adoption agencies, and other benevolent institutions

87 that provide valuable services to society and to receive or

88 utilize such valuable services from these benevolent providers,

89 which could be subsidized by the state through public programs,

90 and

91 WHEREAS, it is not necessary to prohibit all economic

92 relations with religious organizations and providers in order to

93 prevent an establishment of religion that would infringe on the

94 religious liberties of Floridians, and

95 WHEREAS, in 2000, a plurality of the United States Supreme

96 Court acknowledged that this "doctrine, born of bigotry, should

97 be buried now," and

98 WHEREAS, it is necessary to amend the State Constitution to

99 correct the aforementioned disconnect between the true

100 sentiments and principles of Floridians and the discriminatory

101 origins, intentions, and present application of the Blaine

102 Amendment, in furtherance of a deeply rooted commitment to

103 freedom and liberty, where rights and restrictions ought to be

104 based on the merits of one's words and actions rather than on

105 religious affiliation or identity, NOW, THEREFORE,

106



107 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

108



109 That the following amendment to Section 3 of Article I of

110 the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to

111 the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next

112 general election or at an earlier special election specifically

113 authorized by law for that purpose:

114 ARTICLE I

115 DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

116 SECTION 3. Religious freedom.-There shall be no law

117 respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting or

118 penalizing the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall

119 not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace , or

120 safety. No individual or entity may be discriminated against or

121 barred from receiving funding on the basis of religious identity

122 or belief. No revenue of the state or any political subdivision

123 or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury

124 directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious

125 denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.

126 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be

127 placed on the ballot:

128 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

129 ARTICLE I, SECTION 3

130 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.-Proposing an amendment to the State

131 Constitution to provide that no individual or entity may be

132 discriminated against or barred from receiving funding on the

133 basis of religious identity or belief and to delete the

134 prohibition against using revenues from the public treasury

135 directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious