Posted by
Joe Knippenberg on Saturday, May 17, 2008 10:10:25 AM
This WaPo article gives an account of a proposal
before Florida voters this fall to repeal the state's
Blaine Amendment, which prohibits state aid to religious groups. Blaine Amendments are quite common and can be intrpreted much more strictly than the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
Efforts in Georgia--about which I've written
extensively--have never managed to repeal my state's constitutional language. They've always come acropper in the state legislature, where the teachers' unions have had neough votes to head off a supermajority in one or another chamber.
The Florida proposal, which comes as a response to a
state Supreme Court decision (which you can read
here) may stand a better chance, since it has passed the first hurdle. But I wouldn't underestimate the efforts of opponents--from the church/state police to the teachers' unions--to stoke the fires of fear about the consequences of this proposal. Just look at what happened in
Utah.