Civil rights groups maintain that this has not been the case since the federal religious protection act was enacted.
Tracy Salkowitz, regional director of the American Jewish Congress and chair of the California Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion, said that without the state law, for example, a school can simply deny a child’s right to wear a yarmulke without showing a compelling reason. The bill would force a school to show that a yarmulke poses a risk to others.
“It is inconceivable that Governor Wilson would even consider vetoing this bill when millions of Californians have let it be known that our religious freedom must be protected,” Salkowitz said this week. “Californians must continue to call and write the governor to urge his support of this important bill.”
Two press conferences were scheduled for yesterday — one in Sacramento on the Capitol steps and the other in Los Angeles at the offices of the Anti-Defamation League — to galvanize pressure on the governor to sign AB 1617 into law.