ACLU of Florida Condemns HJR 583 for Inviting Religious Coercion in Public Schools

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Yesterday, HJR 583 advanced on the Florida House floor. While framed as “religious freedom,” HJR 583 would create an environment where religious expression can become religious pressure – putting students at risk of coercion, intimidation, and exclusion in the very spaces that should be safest and most welcoming.

Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida, shared the following statement:

“Public schools are not churches. They are taxpayer-funded institutions that must serve every student, regardless of faith, background, or values.

 

Florida’s children should never have to choose between belonging and belief. HJR 583 threatens that promise by paving the way for a constitutional amendment that would embed an untested and deeply flawed statute into Florida’s Constitution. One that on its face, raises serious concerns under the U.S. Constitution and the foundational principle of separation of church and state.

 

The proposal invites punishment of students who are perceived to make ‘derogatory’ or ‘rude’ statements about religious activity, without clear standards for who decides what crosses the line, or what consequences students may face. That lack of clarity puts students at risk for exercising their First Amendment right to disagree with, question, or respond to religious speech that may be imposed on them – particularly if their opposition is mischaracterized as disrespect.

 

Unlike a statute, a constitutional amendment is far harder to fix. Locking vague and constitutionally suspect language into Florida’s Constitution would make it more difficult to clarify protections, correct abuses, or bring the law into constitutional conformity. Compounding the problem, this proposal strips away the statutory framework that currently exists, increasing confusion and opening the door to selective enforcement – especially against students whose beliefs fall outside of mainstream religions.

 

Religious freedom is a constitutional right, not a political weapon. It protects the right to practice one’s faith – or practice no faith at all – without government favoritism or coercion. This bill doesn’t protect students – it exposes them. It creates the conditions for coercion, intimidation, and state-enabled exclusion, and it undermines the basic promise that public schools exist to educate, not indoctrinate.

 

Florida lawmakers should be strengthening public education, not turning classrooms into religious battlegrounds.”