(ConservativeSense.com) – Louisiana lawmakers passed new legislation that would require all public schools in the state to display the biblical Ten Commandments.
On Tuesday, May 28, the Republican-led Louisiana House of Representatives passed the new bill in a vote of 79-16. The bill was introduced by GOP Rep. Dodie Horton of Haughton. The legislation already passed the state Senate on May 16, and with the latest vote, it will not move to the desk of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry.
If signed by Landry, every school in Louisiana will be required by government mandate to display a printed poster of the Ten Commandments in each classroom, which must be at least 11 by 14 inches. The controversial law would make Louisiana the first state in the Union to require schools to post religious laws.
Opponents of the law believe it violates parts of the First Amendment that require the government to remain secular and prohibit the establishment of one religion as law. Among the bill’s opponents is Democratic Sen. Royce Duplessis of New Orleans, who is also a practicing Catholic. Duplessis told reporters that he “didn’t have to learn” about such things in school because he “went to Sunday schools,” suggesting that if parents want their children to learn about the Ten Commandments then they should “take them to church” instead.
Other opponents include civil rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
When Horton was questioned on her thoughts regarding teachers, staff, and students who may not subscribe to Christian views, the Republican state representative said she wasn’t “concerned with an atheist” or “with a Muslim,” but with children “looking and seeing what God’s law is.”
Although the Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that it was unconstitutional to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, Horton cited a recent case in 2022 in which the Supreme Court decided individuals cannot be prevented from engaging in religious observance by the government, which also violates the First Amendment.
Horton argues that the legal landscape “has changed,” but if Landry signs the new bill, it will surely face challenges of its own.
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