Louisiana is poised to become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be posted in all classrooms of schools that receive federal funding. House Bill 71 was passed by the state Senate on May 16, 2024 and will be submitted to the House of Representatives for a final vote.
The bill, authored by Rep. Dodie Horton, has sparked debate over whether it is appropriate to require public schools to include religious displays in classrooms. Proponents argue that the Ten Commandments have historical significance, while critics claim that they are a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
State Senator Adam Bass, who carried the bill in the upper house, marked the Ten Commandments as a historical document that should be presented in educational institutions. He and other supporters cited the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Kennedy vs. Bremerton, There, the court ruled in favor of a coach who was fired for leading prayers at football games. They suggest that this ruling supports the inclusion of religious iconography in public spaces. “Both Rep. Horton and I believe it will stand up to legal and judicial scrutiny,” Bass said.
On the other hand, opponents of the measure claim that the bill would violate the principle of separation of church and state and would likely lead to costly litigation. Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat, was the only lawmaker to do so argue During the Senate session, he opposed the bill, saying he “didn’t have to learn the Ten Commandments in school” because “we went to Sunday school.”
“You want your children to learn about the Ten Commandments and go to church with them,” he added.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Center issued a joint statement criticizing the bill. The statement argued that the measure “requires a particular version of the Ten Commandments” and that ads that do not display that version “would violate state law.”
If the law passes, the operate of taxpayer money for the exhibitions would be prohibited. Instead, schools could accept donations to build the exhibitions. “We think there will be a lot of donations,” Bass predicted. However, Duplessis noted that the law would still result in state resources being used to defend against the inevitable lawsuits that would come with the law’s passage.
Senator Jay Morris has introduced an amendment that would allow schools to publish other historical documents such as the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence. These documents also confirm the role of religion in the founding of the nation while providing a broader context for the presentation of the Ten Commandments.
It is likely that the measure will pass. She has a lot of support from Republicans and Democrats have not mounted any significant resistance. However, the real fight in this matter will only erupt when the legal challenges predicted by Duplessis come to fruition. The law will almost certainly be challenged in court and could even make its way to the Supreme Court, where the issue will attract even more attention and debate.
