Thou shalt display Ten Commandments in public classrooms: Lousiana law
Lousiana has mandated that the ten commandments be displayed in all public class rooms, a decision that sparked discussion on state vs church and whether religious text can be displayed in class rooms
Lousiana: A new law makes it mandateory for all public schools in the southeastern US state of Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
The new law was signed by Republican Governor Jeff Landry on Wednesday, reported CNN.
Meanwhile, the opponents of the bill argued that a state requiring a religious text in all classrooms would violate the establishment clause of the US Constitution, which highlights that Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” House Bill 71, approved by state lawmakers last month, mandates that a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments with “large, easily readable font” be in every classroom at schools that receive state funding, from kindergarten through the university level.
The legislation further specified the exact language in which the Commandments must be printed on the classroom display and outlined that the text of the Commandments must be the central focus of the poster or framed document, as reported by CNN.
Before signing it, Republican Gov Jeff Landry called the bill, “one of (his) favourites.” “If you want to respect the rule of law, you gotta start from the original law given which was Moses. … He got his commandments from God,” Landry said.
During the bill signing, Louisiana state Rep. Dodie Horton, the Republican author of the bill, said that “it’s like hope is in the air everywhere.” Horton further dismissed concerns from Democratic opponents of the measure and said that the Ten Commandments are rooted in legal history and her bill would place a “moral code” in the classroom, as reported by CNN.
However, the Civil liberties groups have swiftly vowed to challenge the law, CNN reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation said that the law violates longstanding Supreme Court precedent and the First Amendment and would result in “unconstitutional religious coercion of students.” “The First Amendment promises that we all get to decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice, without pressure from the government. Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools,” the groups said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, the supporters of the law defended it and have leaned on the 2022 US Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which gave a high school football coach his job back after he was disciplined over a controversy involving prayer on the field.
The Supreme Court ruled that the coach’s prayers amounted to private speech, protected by the First Amendment, and could not be restricted by the school district. The decision further lowered the bar between church and state in an opinion that legal experts predicted would allow more religious expression in public spaces.
During that time, the court clarified that a government entity does not necessarily violate the Establishment Clause by permitting religious expression in public, reported CNN.