Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Indiana State Senator Kent Adams (R-Warsaw) is co-sponsoring a bill designed to bring patriotism and reflection to Hoosier public schools by mandating each day begin by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and by having a moment of silence.
Bill filing starts today at the state Capitol. Adams joins Sen. David Ford (R-Hartford City), Sen Allie Craycraft (D-Selma) and Sen. R. Michael Young (R-Indianapolis) in presenting the legislation. Young will file the legislation.
The bill would require students who do not want to recite the pledge to stand and be silent or otherwise refrain from disrupting class.
During the moment of silence students can individually choose to meditate, pray or engage in any other silent activity. The bill will require students to remain seated and silent, making no distractive display toward other students.
"In the wake of recent events, this bill is a reminder that we should be proud to be Americans," said Adams. "I grew up reciting the pledge and taking time to reflect on the world around me, and I think children today are feeling the need to do something to show their support for our country. This is a great way for them to come together."
Both forms of this bill have been tested in federal courts through other state laws. In 1992, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago upheld an Illinois law mandating the pledge.
The court held in Sherman v. Community Consolidated School district that "patriotism is an effort by the state to promote its own survival and along the way to teach those virtues that justify its survival. Public schools help to transmit those virtues and values."
In 2000 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld a Virginia law mandating a moment of silence. The court held that "observance of one minute of silence is constitutional. the act was enabled for a secular purpose, does not advance or inhibit religions, nor is there excessive entanglement with religion. Students may think as they wish - and this thinking can be purely religious in nature or purely secular in nature. All that is required is they sit silently."
The bill will be sponsored by State Rep. Jerry Denbo (D-French Lick) and cosponsored by Rep. Woody Burton (R-Greenwood), Rep. Brent Steele (R-Bedford) and Rep. Jeffrey Thompson (R-Danville).
