Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block it Louisiana’s new law requires the Ten Commandments to be on display in every public school classroom – a measure they say is unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include parents of Louisiana public schoolchildren, represented by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Under legislation signed into law last week by Republican Governor Jeff Landry, all public classrooms and state-funded universities will be required next year to display a poster-sized version of the Ten Commandments in “large, easy-to-read font.” display. .
Opponents argue that the law violates the separation of church and state and that the display will isolate students, especially those who are not Christian. Supporters say the measure is not only religious, but also has historical significance. In the language of the law, the Ten Commandments are “fundamental documents of our state and national government.”
The lawsuit filed Monday seeks a declaration from the court that the new law, referred to in the lawsuit as HB 71, violates the First Amendment’s clauses prohibiting government establishment of religion and religious freedom to guarantee. It also requests an order banning the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.
The ACLU said the complaint involved “parents who are rabbis, pastors and ministers.”
“The state’s primary interest in passing HB 71 was to impose religious beliefs on children in public schools, regardless of the harm to students and families,” the lawsuit said. The bill’s lead sponsor and author, Representative Dodie Horton, proclaimed during debate on the bill that it “seeks to bring God’s law into the classroom so that children can see what He says is right and what He says is wrong.” .'”
The law, the complaint alleges, “sends the harmful and religiously divisive message that students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments — or, more precisely, the specific version of the Ten Commandments that HB 71 requires schools to display — are not included to belong. in their own school community and must refrain from expressing religious practices or beliefs that are not in line with the religious preferences of the state.”
Defendants include Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, members of the state education board and several local school boards.
Michael Johnson/AP
Landry and Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill support the new law, and Murrill has said she looks forward to defending it. She released a statement saying she could not comment directly on the lawsuit because she had not yet seen it.
“It appears the ACLU only selectively cares about the First Amendment — it doesn’t care when the Biden administration censors speeches or arrests pro-life protesters, but apparently it will fight to prevent posters that threaten our own legal discuss history,” Murrill said. the statement sent by email.
The Ten Commandments have long been at the center of lawsuits across the country.
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that Congress “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The Supreme Court ruled that the law had no secular purpose, but rather served a clearly religious purpose.
In a more recent ruling, the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that such displays in a pair of Kentucky courthouses were unconstitutional. At the same time, the court upheld a Ten Commandments marker on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin. Those were 5-4 decisions, but the composition of the court has changed, with a 6-3 conservative majority now.
Other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah, have tried to pass requirements that schools display the Ten Commandments. However, the threat of a legal battle means that no one has the mandate except Louisiana.
The Louisiana posters, which will be paired with a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of public education for nearly three centuries,” are scheduled to go up in classrooms in early 2025. By law, no state resources will be used to implement the mandate. The posters would be paid for by donations.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge John deGravelles, who was nominated to the federal court by former President Barack Obama.
