The First Amendment guarantees families and their chosen religious communities – not government-imposed religious leaders – the right to educate their children about matters of faith. Yet, the North Dakota Legislature is attempting to suppress these First Amendment rights by passing a bill to encourage local school districts to allow chaplains in our public schools and provide funding to do so.
The ACLU of North Dakota opposes House Bill 1456. The primary role of chaplains is to provide pastoral or religious counseling to people in spiritual need. Allowing them to assume official positions — even if voluntary — in public schools will create an environment ripe for religious coercion and that violates the constitutional right to religious liberty.
“North Dakota’s public schools are religiously diverse, and all students should feel safe and welcome in them. Opening the schoolhouse doors to chaplains would undermine this critical goal,” said Cody Schuler, ACLU of North Dakota advocacy manager. “Even well-intentioned chaplain policies will undermine the fundamental premise of our public education system and violate our longstanding First Amendment principles. Allowing chaplains’ offices in school will open our students to religious coercion and runs counter to our Constitutional principles. We urge North Dakota lawmakers to reject this bill and seek better ways to serve public school students that do not involve unconstitutional, school-sponsored religion.”
The House Education Committee is scheduled to hear testimony on House Bill 1456 at 10 a.m. today.
About the ACLU of North Dakota
The American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of North Dakota is part of a three-state chapter that also includes South Dakota and Wyoming. The team in North Dakota is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women and LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit communities. The ACLU of North Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of North Dakota.
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