Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law was temporarily blocked by a federal judge

AP
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A new Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday.

The judge said the law was “primarily unconstitutional” and that the plaintiffs would likely win their case by claiming the law violated the First Amendment.

The ruling represents a victory for opponents of the law, who argue that it violates the separation of church and state and that displaying the Ten Commandments in poster size would isolate students, especially those who are not Christians. Supporters say the measure is not only religious in nature but also has historical significance to the foundations of U.S. law.

U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge issued the order as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by a group of parents of Louisiana public school children. They say the legislation violates the language of the First Amendment, which prohibits government establishment of religion and guarantees religious freedom.

The new law in Louisiana, a reliably Republican state anchored in the Bible Belt, was passed by the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year.

The legislation, touted by Republicans including former President Donald Trump, is one of the latest pushes by conservatives to integrate religion into the classroom – from legislation in Florida that allows school districts to have volunteer chaplains accompany students to Oklahoma’s top education official ordering public schools to teach the Bible.

In recent years, similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms have been proposed in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, because of the threat of legal disputes over the constitutionality of such measures, none of them came into force.

In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar law in Kentucky was unconstitutional and 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 found that the law had no secular purpose but rather served a clearly religious purpose.

Louisiana law, which applies to all public K-12 schools and state-funded university classrooms, requires that the Ten Commandments be displayed on a poster or framed document with a minimum size of 11 x 14 inches (28 x 36 centimeters). must have the text in central focus and “printed in a large, easy-to-read font.”

Each poster must be accompanied by a four-paragraph “Context Statement” that describes how the Ten Commandments “have been an important part of American public education for nearly three centuries.”

Tens of thousands of posters would probably be needed to comply with the new law. Advocates say schools are not required to spend public money on the posters, but instead can purchase them through donations or have groups and organizations donate the actual posters.

This is a developing story and will be updated.