Debate over the Ten Commandments and Prayer in Public Schools

February 14, 2001

Source: The Associated Press State & Local Wire

On February 14, 2001, The Associated Press State & Local Wire reported on the debate over a proposed bill in North Dakota that calls for "posting the Ten Commandments and allowing student prayer in public schools...Opponents argue that the measures violate religious freedoms" and show religious favoritism, but supporters say they "would instill moral values" and represent the values of the majority of the state's residents. "Representatives of state school boards and school administrators oppose the prayer bill...Courts have struck down school prayer laws across the country since the 1960s." The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill, now in the House, that "allows school boards to display the commandments 'together with other documents of cultural, legal or historical significance.'"