SENATE BILL: Religious Freedom Act of 2021 (Passed)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

AN ACT
To guarantee the right of incarcerated persons to be present with clergy

Be it enacted by the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia assembled

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Religious Freedom Act of 2021.

Section 2. Presence of clergy in prisons

(a) Whereby Congress finds in Section 3 of the Bill of Rights, that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, nor obstructing the freedom of worship", inmates of federal and state prisons shall be entitled to the visitation and counsel of religious leaders.

(b) In the event that capital punishment is constitutionally reinstated in the Republic of Atlasia, all inmates subject to capital punishment shall have the right to presence of clergy in execution chambers at the time of death.

Sponsor: FalterinArc for Scott
Senate Designation: SB28:18

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The initial debate period will commence with 24 hours for sponsor advocacy. Other members will have an addition 48 hours to respond.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I assume it might be allowed but the second clause seems quite unusual in its wording- we don’t tend to legislate in this way (I’m not opposed to it just playing devils advocate!)

Well, in the US, several states have what are often referred to as "trigger laws" that would automatically ban abortions in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned. The second clause operates on essentially the same legal principle, although it likely won't be needed because I don't foresee capital punishment being reinstated any time soon. (Hopefully it never will.)

Its an interesting conditional approach and we do have a history of doing that in Atlasia, though most pertain to some action being taken or not being taken. The healthcare bill contained a couple actually.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This is a good bill that I will support. While I am not the biggest fan of organized religion, this is still a common sense measure that no one should be opposed to.

Would it ever be your inclination to inhibit practice of religion on such basis in the name of opposing organized religion? Just curious here.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This is a good bill that I will support. While I am not the biggest fan of organized religion, this is still a common sense measure that no one should be opposed to.

Would it ever be your inclination to inhibit practice of religion on such basis in the name of opposing organized religion? Just curious here.

Good question. This is a very abstract question and would depend a lot on the specifics. But in general my first big concern for any such law would be constitutional concerns; I am 100% commited to defending the RL first amendment in its entirety and this also applies to its Atlasian equivalent.

I actually considered bringing to the Senate at one point several months ago a bill to restrict religious attire on government jobs and buildings, but after a quick read of the constitution it would have been so blatantly unconstitutional that I'd get laughed at in here (and in court if it came to it) so I didn't even end up writing a draft version*.

Even if we forget about the constitution for a moment I will say that I am still 100% in favour of freedom of religion; but I also like to think that freedom from religion is also a good principle to have; with both being balanced depending on the specifics.

This is why I'd say that it depends on the specifics. For instance, this bill is an example where freedom of religion is the clear way to go as the only person affected here would be the prisoner himself.(indeed it is perhaps an extreme example where going for freedom of religion is crystal clear)

For an example of the opposite, I do remember I had a bill where I wanted to restrict organized religion in schools in Lincoln when I was in the regional legislature there, but I don't remember the details. My amendment to do that ended up failing and the bill (originally designed to protect prayer in schools lol) also ended up failing later as well.

^{*: Indeed when I was considering it I already knew it was constitutionally suspect, I was basing my thoughts on assuming Atlasia had the same version of the 1st amendment that the RL United States, but it turns out that freedom of religion is actually slightly more entrenched in Atlasia's constitution. That ended up killing the bill entirely.}

The problem obviously is drawing the line between religious freedom and freedom from religion as at some point the latter would necessarily impede the former.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Motion for a final vote

Senators have 24 hours to object.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

A Final vote is now open on this legislation, Senators please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

AYE

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This ends in about 30 hours or so.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This ends in about 30 hours or so.

I hope you meant 30 minutes. The bill already has enough votes to pass.

Well the full time is 30 hours, or 6 AM monday morning.

but if Devout were to show up before I go offline, just sayin.

Technically I don't have insta end powers post-reset. Though back in the day... Like that time I got bill with 6 Ayes declared passed before Adam, TNF or Bore could vote Nay.

What I have been doing is cheating on the basis of if every vote is in and the same way, no one would object to suspending the rules and ending it sooner obviously. That is what I did in the joint session.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Vote on Final Passage of the Religious Freedom Act of 2021:

Aye (5): Blair, Falterin, NC Yankee, Spark and Tack50
Nay (0):
Abstain (0):

Didn't Vote (1): Devout Centrist

This has passed the Senate and is sent to the VP for house action.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

AN ACT
To guarantee the right of incarcerated persons to be present with clergy

Be it enacted by the Congress of the Republic of Atlasia assembled

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Religious Freedom Act of 2021.

Section 2. Presence of clergy in prisons

(a) Whereby Congress finds in Section 3 of the Bill of Rights, that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, nor obstructing the freedom of worship", inmates of federal and state prisons shall be entitled to the visitation and counsel of religious leaders.

(b) In the event that capital punishment is constitutionally reinstated in the Republic of Atlasia, all inmates subject to capital punishment shall have the right to presence of clergy in execution chambers at the time of death.

People's Regional Senate
Passed 5-0 in the Atlasian Senate Assembled,