Secular Memorials (H 8143A, S 3035)

In a stunning response to the Woonsocket cross controversy, the General Assembly overwhelmingly approved legislation creating a permanent commission to determine whether any memorial in the state of Rhode Island is religious or secular.  This five-person commission holds the authority to decide whether any structure, sculpture, inscription or icon located on public property has reached a level where its religious imagery has become so meaningless as to render it secular.  The ACLU testified before the House and Senate judiciary committees that this legislation not only inappropriately sought to legitimize the use of religious symbols on public property, but ran contrary to the First Amendment by allowing the state to co-opt a religious symbol for its own uses and declare any religious use of the symbol overridden, based on the decision of as few as two commission members.  Read our testimony and our letter to the governor.