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Utah Senate Advances Religious Liberty Amendment After Heated Debate
Summary
After hours of debate and testimony from both sides, the Utah Senate voted 20–9 on Feb. 17, 1993, to place Senate Joint Resolution 8 — a proposed state constitutional amendment on religious liberty — on the third-reading calendar. Supporters say it clarifies protections; opponents, including the ACLU, say it risks endorsing government prayer.
Salt Lake City — The Utah Senate on Feb. 17 advanced a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at clarifying religious liberty in the state, moving Senate Joint Resolution 8 to the chamber’s third-reading calendar by a 20–9 vote.
Sponsor Sen. Hilliard told colleagues the measure is intended to educate the public and to cure a perceived legal gap left by federal decisions such as the so-called Smith case. “This is an educational process,” Hilliard said, arguing the amendment would broaden protections and remove language he described as vague and litigable in the state constitution.
Law professors and civil liberties advocates gave competing testimony during a committee-of-the-whole-style hearing. Professor Cole Durham, identified in the record as the author of SJR8, urged a measured accommodationist approach and said the proposal includes safeguards to prevent state endorsement of religion. “I think that something like Senate Joint Resolution 8 is the direction which we should move,” Durham said.
Catherine Bridal, who testified for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the amendment would still leave open the central constitutional question and warned the proposal could be read to permit government prayer. “The ACLU’s position is that legislative prayer is in fact a violation of the First Amendment,” Bridal said; she argued for more limited statutory fixes and for caution in altering the state constitution.
Lawmakers split over timing and scope. Some senators said the body should wait for the Utah Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court guidance before changing the state charter; others said public debate now would focus discussion and allow refinements before a 1994 ballot. Senator Craig Peterson and others said the measure supplies a needed focal point for public discussion.
The Senate proceeded to a recorded roll call after the sponsor called the question. The clerk announced SJR8 carried by a vote of 20 ayes and 9 nays and that the resolution would be placed on the third-reading calendar for further action and, if approved, eventual submission to voters.
What’s next: SJR8 will return for a formal third reading and final passage vote before it would go to the ballot process; lawmakers said additional drafting and public input could follow before final action.
