MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Some state senators said a bill passed by a Senate committee today would change Alabama's constitution to say, in effect, that the Ten Commandments could be displayed on state property such as the Capitol or state judicial building.



The proposed amendment also would rewrite the state constitution to say the right of a public school or public body, such as a county or city, to display the Ten Commandments shall not be ''restrained or abridged.''

A U.S. district judge in 2002 ruled that a Ten Commandments monument installed in the state judicial building was unconstitutional because it violated the U.S. constitution's ban of a state establishment of religion.

Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, the sponsor of the proposed amendment approved by the Senate's constitution and elections committee, said he hoped the plan, if enacted, would trigger a federal lawsuit that ultimately would get to the U.S. Supreme Court and give it a chance to overturn past federal court rulings on Ten Commandment displays.

Dial's proposed amendment would become part of the state constitution only if approved by the Senate and House of Representatives and then by a majority of state voters in a referendum.

The proposal, Senate Bill 7, says no public funds could be spent to defend the constitutionality of the amendment if enacted and then challenged in court. Dial said he has a list of people who have said they would finance a legal defense of the amendment.