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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma cited a Bible verse as he argued against a bill seeking to ban corporal punishment being used on disabled students in schools.
State Senator Shane Jett quoted several verses from the Book of Proverbs on Tuesday as he argued that the bill is in "violation of Scripture.".
Newsweek has contacted Jett for further comment via email.
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Why It Matters
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 1977 decision that corporal punishment did not fall under the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, leaving it to states to set their own rules.
Some 27 states and the District of Columbia have banned corporal punishment in schools, but Oklahoma is among those that still allow it, according to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.
An Oklahoma law in 2017 barred the practice on children with the most "significant cognitive disabilities, defining corporal punishment as "the deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping or any other physical force used as a means of discipline."
The Oklahoma Department of Education in 2020 prohibited schools from using physical force to discipline disabled students, but a bill that would have codified the ban into state law failed to pass last year.
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What To Know
Senate Bill 364 seeks to codify the ban on using physical discipline on students with federal protected disabilities into state law.
State Senator Dave Rader, a Republican from Tulsa who authored the bill, said during Tuesday's session that the bill "provides that school district personnel shall be prohibited from using corporal punishment on any student identified with a disability in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act."
He said some of the protected disabilities include autism, deafness, blindness, emotional disturbance, intellectual disability, speech or language impairment, visual impairment or an orthopedic impairment.
Jett, also a Republican, repeatedly questioned Rader about how the bill aligns with Proverbs 22:15, which he quoted as saying: "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him."
Rader referenced Scripture in his answer, telling Jett that "there are going to be times when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we won't have to fear evil because your rod and your staff comfort me."
He said that "not all discipline needs to be one-way and to deal with special needs takes special discipline."
Jett responded by quoting more Bible verses, saying, "In Scripture, it's uniformly applied to everyone."
What People Are Saying
State Senator Shane Jett said during debate on the bill on Tuesday: "This is a top-down, socialist-aligned, ideological, unilateral divorce between parents' ability to collaborate with their local schools to establish a disciplined regimen that incudes corporal punishment. It is in violation of Scripture and ideologically aligned with socialist ideology that should not be part of this body's legislative initiatives."
State Senator Dave Rader said: "Not all discipline has to be one-way, and to deal with special needs takes special discipline. So what we're saying in this bill is, if there are special needs, then there will be special discipline. And we're saying in our state, we just don't think it should be corporal punishment. That's what this law says."
What's Next
The bill passed in the Oklahoma Senate by a 36-16 vote, and now moves to the House for consideration.
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