HB 28-21: Religious Freedom Act of 2021 (Debating)

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

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,

Sponsor: Joseph Cao
Status: Debating

[Joseph Cao]

I'll sponsor.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Members have 24 hours to object to Cao's sponsorship.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Hearing no obection, Joseph Cao is recognized as Sponsor.

[Joseph Cao]

Advocacy, opening of the floor to debate, etc.:

Freedom of worship is, of course, a right guaranteed in Article I to all citizens regardless of the specifics of their religion or circumstances. As a number of Senators (and the VP here) have said, this bill will extend that right to be more consistent with the fundamental delineation of our Constitution.

[Joseph Cao]

Any objections, thoughts on the matter, etc.? This is definitely a bipartisan bill but I imagine my fellow representatives would have some things of their own to say.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

I sincerely hope this bill never has to be considered, ever. That being said, if some clueless future government decides to bring back state-sanctioned murder, we should make sure to have policies like this one to give our prisoners some basic human decency. Can I move to head to a final vote? If so then I do that. If I can't then of course there's no effect.

[Sirius_]

I don't see anything bad or controversial about this, I motion for a vote.

[Harvey Updyke Jr🌹]

Unless I'm wrong, don't inmates already have a right to see their religious advisors?

If so, I object to this bill as it's likely a prelude to allowing state-sponsored murder via execution.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Unless I'm wrong, don't inmates already have a right to see their religious advisors?

If so, I object to this bill as it's likely a prelude to allowing state-sponsored murder via execution.

Capital punishment has already been banned constitutionally.

Here's my original advocacy in the Senate thread:

As the author of this bill, I will provide some context: the IRL SCOTUS has demonstrated a mixed record with regard to death row inmates being allowed to have clergy present at the time of their executions. Most recently, SCOTUS ruled that Alabama may not execute a Christian inmate without his pastor present. This sadly was not the case just two years earlier in that same state, when SCOTUS denied a Muslim inmate's request to have his imam present in the execution chamber.

Although we have constitutionally abolished the death penalty in Atlasia, I believe this bill is necessary to ensure that inmates always have the right to visitation by clergy, without regard to the inmate's religious views. This is a standard that must be applied consistently, in line with our constitution which prohibits obstruction of the freedom to worship.

[Joseph Cao]

Not sure if Harvey's objection still stands since it wasn't technically worded as an objection to a specific part of the bill. Motion to invoke cloture, I guess (unless Harvey withdraws it)?

[Joseph Cao]

An update on the status of my motion (and whether Harvey’s objection counts as a motion) would be appreciated.

[OBD]

Okay, I'm not sure how all these Senate->House bills slipped through the cracks. I basically took Scott's noticeboard directly as the basis for mine. I apologize for this oversight.

As for Harvey's objection, I would ask that the Representative clarify whether or not he is objecting. Personally, I believe that this bill does not pave the way for the reinstatement of the death penalty, but instead makes provisions to ensure that this bill's goal - the right to religious freedom in prisons - will also apply to a hypothetical restoration of the death penalty (which is both unlikely and something that I, and many other Congresspeople, oppose).

[Left Wing]

Okay so Harvey never clarified whether he was officially objecting or not. In any case, even if he was officially objecting, this legislation has been on the floor for more than 168 hours and debate has ceased for more than 48, meaning cloture can be invoked without a vote.

A vote is now open on this legislation.

[Dr. MB]

Aye

[Continential]

Aye

[Sirius_]

Aye

[lfromnj]

Aye

[Harvey Updyke Jr🌹]

NAY

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Aye

[Joseph Cao]

Aye.

[KaiserDave]

Aye.

[Left Wing]

This has the votes to pass, 24 hours to change your votes.

[Left Wing]

By a vote of 7-1-0-1, this passes the house.

[Left Wing]

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,

People’s House of Representatives
Passed 7-1-0-1 in the House of Representatives