There's nothing like a good culture war conflict to produce unintended consequences--as when, for example, so-called zero tolerance school policies fail to improve safety and sometimes correlate with spikes in the very behavior education officials want to curb.
But a new bill wending its way through the Michigan legislature may represent a new landmark in culture-war legislating: It has acquired a last-minute amendment that deliberately seeks to undermine the legislation's stated purpose.
The measure is supposed to enact new restraints on bullying in Michigan schools; it's known as Matt's Safe School Law, named for Matt Epling, a 14-year-old Michigan student who committed suicide after sustained bullying from fellow students. But before the state Senate approved the bill, Republicans in the chamber added an amendment stipulating that it does not abridge First Amendment free speech rights or impinge on the expression of religious or moral views.
Partisans in the religious-secular wings of culture combat can, of course, weigh in on the question of whether religious and moral traditions condone bullying--but that's not the point of this particular legislative maneuver. As Amy Sullivan, a Time magazine columnist on the religion-and-politics beat, explains:
Michigan is already one of only three states in the country that have not enacted any form of anti-bullying legislation. For more than a decade, Democrats in the state legislature have fought their Republican colleagues and social conservatives such as Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, who referred to anti-bullying measures as "a Trojan horse for the homosexual agenda." In that time, at least ten Michigan students who were victims of bullying have killed themselves.
This year, Republicans only agreed to consider an anti-bullying measure that did not require school districts to report bullying incidents, did not include any provisions for enforcement or teacher training, and did not hold administrators accountable if they fail to act. And they fought back Democratic attempts to enumerate particular types of students who are prone to being bullied, such as religious and racial minorities, and gay students. But it was the addition of special protections for religiously-motivated bullying that led all 11 Democratic senators to vote against the legislation they had long championed.The new provision reflects a longstanding belief among social conservatives that legal efforts to curb hate speech and bullying actually target the body of beliefs in various faith traditions that castigate homosexual behavior. In similar disputes over federal legislation, Sullivan notes, social conservative lawmakers and interest groups "unsuccessfully fought for the inclusion of a provision protecting religious freedom when Congress expanded the definition of a hate crime to include crimes motivated by a victim's sexual orientation. They also strongly oppose legislation that would prevent discrimination against gay individuals in the workplace, charging that such a law would endanger religious freedom."
Michigan's amended bill drew sharp rebukes from anti-bullying activists and Democrats in the state senate. Matt Epling's father, Kevin Epling wrote a letter of protest that state Sen. Glenn Anderson read on the chamber floor during the debate over the measure on Wednesday. "I am ashamed that this could be Michigan's law on anti-bullying when in fact it is a 'bullying is OK in Michigan' law." Senate Democratic leader Gretchen Whitmer echoed the same point in an emotional floor speech, which you can watch in the video clip above.
"Here today, you claim to be protecting kids, and you're actually putting them in more danger," Whitmer said. "You may be able to pat yourself on the back today and say that you did something, but in actuality, you're explicitly outlining how to get away with bullying."
Michigan Senate Approves House Version Of Anti-Bullying Bill, Drops Religious Language
First Posted: 11/29/11 05:28 PM ET Updated: 11/29/11 05:28 PM ET
Submit this story
Michigan's state Senate dropped a bill Tuesday that critics called "a license to bully," and instead adopted a House version that represents a compromise among Republican lawmakers in a more comprehensive piece of legislation that would require anti-bullying policies in schools.
After the Senate passed the controversial anti-bullying bill, "Matt's Safe School Law," earlier this month, a wave of criticism poured in to lawmakers. The staunch opposition stemmed from a provision in the bill's language that permitted harassment by teachers and students if they can claim that their actions are rooted in a "sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction."
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer most openly criticized the bill with an emotional speech, and a week later, the state House passed its own version of the anti-bullying bill, which smoothed over the language in the Senate's original draft.
The House's version of the bill, passed by the Senate today, doesn't include the controversial religious language and requires all public, charter and intermediate school districts to implement the policy. The bill passed 88-18 and is also a bipartisan result of the House's promise to seek a compromise that Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger said will "bring everyone to the middle of the road and provide protection to all students."
The Senate's passage Tuesday of the House version was met with mixed response.
“It's a victory for me, but more importantly, it's a victory for students across the state,” Whitmer said after Tuesday's vote, The Grand Rapids Press reports. “People started calling my office to tell me their stories. I had one doctor from Kalamazoo who told us about his experience being bullied in school. He said he never told anyone about it. I still get chills thinking about it.”
Although the newly passed legislation doesn't include what critics say would have allowed bullying based on religious beliefs, it also doesn't include specifics like common causes of bullying -- such as instances based on race, religion or sexual orientation -- or detailed reporting requirements for instances of bullying, the Associated Press reports.
Whitmer told The Grand Rapids Press she will continue to work for stricter policies.
“But when you consider where we were, this is a good step,” she told the publication. “For the Senate to take this up first thing after a break shows something.”
The bill passed by a 35-2 vote and goes to Gov. Rick Snyder's desk.
If Snyder signs the bill, Michigan would join a host of other states that have adopted policies that protect students from harassment. California is the first state that requires public schools to teach about the contributions of gays and lesbians, and a measure to curb anti-gay bullying passed the state Senate in September.
New Jersey passed a law in January, effective as of September, requiring anti-bullying policies across the state's public schools. Known as the "Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights," the law is said to be the toughest piece of anti-bullying legislation in the country.
