Federal judge blocks law that would hang Ten Commandments in Louisiana classrooms

A Louisiana law requiring posters of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms has been halted by a federal judge, who ruled that the law is “unconstitutional on its face.”

The lawHB 71, was signed into law in June. It requires public school classrooms – regardless of grade level or subject – to display large posters of the document measuring at least 9 inches by 16 inches and in a “large, easy-to-read font.” Supporters of the law argued that it did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, claiming that the displays were intended to inform students about the historical impact of the Ten Commandments, rather than to indoctrinate them religiously. The law also prohibited taxpayer money from supporting the posters, but required schools to accept donations.

The law was met with one almost immediately legal challenge from parents who claimed the mandate violated their ability to teach their children their preferred religious values.

The law “unconstitutionally pressures students into religious observance, veneration and adoption of the state’s favorite religious scriptures,” the statement said. suitfiled in June. “It also 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 – do not belong in their own school communities. and must refrain from expressing religious practices or beliefs that are not in line with the religious preferences of the state.”

On Tuesday, Louisiana federal Judge John W. deGravelles issued a preliminary injunction on the law, to write that HB 71 “is not neutral toward religion, and this is clear from the text of the statute, its effects, and the statements of lawmakers before and after the law’s passage.

“Since the law is not neutral,” DeGravelles continued, “it can easily withstand strict analysis; Even assuming that the AG defendants have demonstrated a compelling interest (e.g., in education or history), there are a number of ways they could advance a putative case. interest in teaching students about the Ten Commandments that would be less burdensome to the First Amendment than that required by law.

The ruling was immediately met with praise by those who challenged it as an unconstitutional overreach of religious education in state schools.

“This ruling should serve as a reality check for Louisiana lawmakers who want to use public schools to convert children to their preferred Christianity,” said Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief . a Tuesday statement. “Public schools are not Sunday schools, and today’s decision ensures that our customers’ classrooms remain spaces where all students, regardless of faith, feel welcome.”

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