Chapter § 2.6

• Jurisdiction: Oregon

§ 2.6 ARTICLE I, SECTION 7: OATHS AND AFFIRMATIONS

Article I, section 7, of the Oregon Constitution provides that "[t]he mode of administering an oath, or affirmation shall be such as may be most consistent with, and binding upon the conscience of the person to whom such oath or affirmation may be administered."

No reported appellate decision has considered this section, perhaps because the kinds of oaths required of office holders, witnesses, jurors, and other Oregonians whose role requires the taking of an oath either contain no religious references at all or else provide a nonreligious option. Examples of the former include the oaths to be taken by members of the legislature (Or Const, Art IV, § 31), Oregon Supreme Court justices (Or Const, Art VII (Amended), § 7), attorneys (ORS 9.250(2))...