Alabama Voters Put School Prayer in the State Constitution
· Reason
On Tuesday, Alabama residents voted on Constitutional Amendment 3 to amend the state constitution by requiring public schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily and allow "student-led prayer." The measure officially passed on Wednesday, with 63 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times.
Alabama already has a law requiring schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the day. The constitutional amendment enshrines that requirement in the state's constitution and also requires local school boards to "adopt a policy authorizing student-initiated and student-led prayer." The amendment gives students the ability to opt out of prayer or the Pledge of Allegiance.
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This isn't the first time Alabama has tried to introduce religion in public schools. In 1981, Alabama implemented a law allowing teachers to announce a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day for students to pray or meditate. The Supreme Court struck it down in 1985, ruling that it promoted prayer in public schools, violating the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
In April, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill into law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public fifth- to 12th-grade history classrooms. Public schools must comply with the law beginning next year.
Similar legislation has popped up in other states in recent years. In 2024, Louisiana passed a law requiring every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments. A federal court ruled the law unconstitutional in November 2024, citing Stone v. Graham (1980), in which the Supreme Court found that a similar Kentucky law violated the Establishment Clause. A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's decision in June 2025, stating that if the law "goes into effect, Students will be subjected to unwelcome displays of the Ten Commandments for the entirety of their public school education." The panel also took issue with the law's lack of an opt-out option, adding, "Plaintiffs are not mere bystanders."
But in February this year, the full 5th Circuit vacated the lower court's decision and allowed the law to take effect. The 5th Circuit determined that the challenge was premature because no displays had gone up yet; however, it didn't rule on the law's constitutionality.
Texas enacted a nearly identical law to Louisiana's in June 2025, which a federal judge also blocked soon after. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in April, finding that the law does "not violate either the Establishment Clause or the Free Exercise Clause," since it didn't outright require religious exercise. Plaintiffs have since appealed to the Supreme Court, which has yet to decide whether to hear it.
Leading up to Election Day, Alabama Amendment 3 was opposed by groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which argued that "required prayer has no place in public schools." Evidently, most Alabamians didn't agree.
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