Oregon religious dress law

[Eric Rassbach]

The legislature's passage of the bill is indeed a great victory for religious liberty.  The garb law was one in a series of KKK-inspired anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant statutes enacted during the 20s, including the one that was the occasion for Pierce v Society of Sisters.  (The then-Speaker of the Oregon House was the aptly named Klansman Kaspar K. Kubli.)  Although the garb law was targeted at members of Catholic orders, nowadays Sikhs, Muslims and Orthodox Jews also fall within its ambit.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the legislative repeal effort was that its main opponent was the Oregon ACLU--not their finest hour.

For those who may be interested, more information is available here:

http://www.sikhcoalition.org/advisories/OregonSenateBanTeacher.htm

http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=83

Eric

________________________________________
From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu [religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Steven K Green [sgreen at willamette.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 8:03 PM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: Re: Oregon religious dress law

All,
I am happy to report that the Oregon legislature today passed a law
repealing the state's 85 year law banning public school teachers from
wearing any distinctive religious clothing.  The law prevented many Sikhs,
Muslims and other religiously devout people from being teachers.  The
governor is likely to sign the bill.

Steve Green
Willamette University

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