On Tuesday a judge temporarily blocked Louisiana’s law requiring all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms. He called it unconstitutional “on its face” and in any application.
A group of Louisiana parents with children attending public schools, representing a variety of faiths, sued the state to challenge HB 71. This law requires that all public schools, from kindergarten through college, display religious texts in each classroom using “a poster or framed documentation that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches.”
The plaintiffs claim that the requirement to display religious doctrines in classrooms at poster size violates their First Amendment rights as well as the separation of Church and State.
The lawsuit also argues that this law violates a U.S. Supreme Court case, pointing out the Stone v. Graham Case in which the Court overturned a 1980 Kentucky law similar to that at issue, stating that separation of church from state prohibits public schools from posting Ten Commandments in their classrooms.
The supporters of the law claim that the Ten Commandments are more than just a religious book. They have historical importance to the founding of U.S. History.
In July, the parties agreed that no Ten Commandments posters would be displayed in public schools and that defendants, including the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in the state of Louisiana, would publicly implement the law until the November court decision.
Oklahoma’s state Superintendent ordered in June that educators incorporate the Bible into lessons. This order is currently being challenged in court.
Florida also recently passed a policy that allowed volunteer religious chaplains to serve as student counselors. The ACLU has expressed “concerns” over Florida’s policy but legal challenges have not been filed in the matter.
