Religion Clause reports: [Sen. Shane Massey] . . . says that the inclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, added through an amendment offered by Sen. Brad Hutto, a Democratic opponent of the entire bill, is a “poison pill” that now makes the law “constitutionally suspect”.
Massey has this commentary in the Augusta Chronicle. He writes:
Although the bill made it through the committee process, a group of Democratic senators was determined to kill it, primarily because it included the Ten Commandments. When it came up for debate on the Senate floor, these Democratic senators offered several amendments in an attempt to prevent passage. The most clever “poison pill” was Sen. Brad Hutto’s amendment to include the Lord’s Prayer in the display.
The proposed “Foundations of American Law and Government” display bill is constitutional. Mr. Hutto knew that if he included a purely religious document, the entire bill became constitutionally suspect.
