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158.181 Legislative findings.
(1)
(2)
The General Assembly finds the following:
(a) Judicial decisions concerning religion, free speech, and public education
are widely misunderstood and misapplied;
(b) Confusion surrounding these decisions has caused some to be less
accommodating of the religious liberty and free speech rights of students
than permitted under the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution;
(c) Confusion surrounding these decisions has resulted in needless conflicts
and litigation;
(d) The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the establishment
clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution requires
that public schools neither advance or inhibit religion. Public schools
should be neutral in matters of faith and should treat religion with fairness
and respect;
(e) Neutrality to religion does not require hostility to religion. The
establishment clause does not prohibit reasonable accommodation of
religion, nor does the clause prohibit appropriate teaching about religion;
(f) Accommodation of religion is required by the free speech and free
exercise clauses of the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution; and
(g) Setting forth the religious liberty rights of students in a statute would
assist students and parents in the enforcement of the religious liberty
rights of students and would provide impetus to efforts in public schools to
accommodate religious belief in feasible cases.
The purpose of KRS 158.181 to 158.187 is to create a safe harbor for schools
desiring to avoid litigation and to allow the free speech and religious liberty
rights of students to the extent permissible under the establishment clause.
Effective:July 15, 1998
History: Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 294, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998.
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