SCR114

A Concurrent Resolution proposing an amendment to Article I of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey by adding a new paragraph 23.

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):

1. The following proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey is agreed to:

23. (a) The right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children shall not be infringed.

(b) The Legislature shall have the power to define and enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this paragraph.

2. When this proposed amendment to the Constitution is finally agreed to pursuant to Article IX, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, it shall be submitted to the people at the next general election occurring more than three months after the final agreement and shall be published at least once in at least one newspaper of each county designated by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly and the Secretary of State, not less than three months prior to the general election.

3. This proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be submitted to the people at that election in the following manner and form:

There shall be printed on each official ballot to be used at the general election, the following:

a. In every municipality in which voting machines are not used, a legend which shall immediately precede the question, as follows:

If you favor the proposition printed below make a cross (X), plus (+), or check (•) in the square opposite the word "Yes." If you are opposed thereto make a cross (X), plus (+) or check (•) in the square opposite the word "No."

		TITLE
	YES	Shall the amendment to the Constitution of New Jersey, providing that the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children shall not be infringed, and that the Legislature shall have the power to define and enforce, by appropriate legislation, the amendment, be approved?
		INTERPRETIVE STATEMENT
	NO	This constitutional amendment would provide that the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children shall not be infringed, and that the Legislature shall have the power to define and enforce this right by enacting appropriate legislation.

This proposed "Parental Rights Amendment" to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey is intended to protect the rights of parents to ensure that the values taught to their children at school do not conflict with the values taught them by their parents at home, and to prevent intrusions into the relationship between parents and their children on the basis of arguments by legal theorists.

The proposed amendment will improve children's welfare by encouraging more parental responsibility and reasserting the irreplaceable role of parents which has been weakened by the growing influence of governmental and other bureaucracies that have increasingly impacted the responsibility for values transmission traditionally carried out by the family. The amendment is designed to codify the parental rights doctrine established by previous U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Specifically, this concurrent resolution proposes an amendment to Article I of the State Constitution by adding a new paragraph 23, to provide that the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children shall not be infringed, and that the Legislature shall have the power to define and enforce this amendment by enacting appropriate legislation.

The "Parental Rights Amendment" does not sanction parental abuse or neglect of children or give parents an absolute right which overrides the State's interest in protecting children's welfare, but will provide parents with greater legal standing in the areas of education, health and family autonomy. For example, the amendment will make public schools more accountable to parents by giving them greater oversight of academic standards and those moral values which are taught to their children at school. The amendment also recognizes, for example, that parental approval should be obtained before schools distribute condoms to minors. Finally, the amendment will help to define the relationship of child to parent and family to State, and will help to prevent new intrusions into the parent-child relationship based upon legal theories which suggest that children should have legal standing to challenge parental decisions regarding cosmetic surgery or choice of schooling.

The "Parental Rights Amendment" has been introduced by legislators in at least 29 states to date, and a 1995 survey of 1,000 registered voters by the Luntz Research Company found that 74% expressed support for such an amendment (including 58% of self-described "liberal Democrats" and 75% of self-described "Independents"). Major pro-family organizations are working for the adoption of this amendment across the nation, including the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for America, Of the People, and the Home School Legal Defense Association. The amendment complements federal parental rights legislation which has been introduced by Representative Steve Largent of Oklahoma and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa.

Proposes amendment to the Constitution to support the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.