{"id":85345,"date":"2024-06-25T15:19:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/?p=85345"},"modified":"2024-06-25T15:19:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T15:19:00","slug":"group-sues-louisiana-over-law-requiring-display-of-the-ten-commandments-in-classrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/group-sues-louisiana-over-law-requiring-display-of-the-ten-commandments-in-classrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Group Sues Louisiana Over Law Requiring Display of the Ten Commandments in Classrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A group of families are working to block the new Louisiana law that mandates educators to display the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPermanently posting the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana public-school classroom\u2013rendering them unavoidable\u2013 unconstitutionally pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state\u2019s favored religious scripture,\u201d the\u00a0complaint<\/a> reads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt also sends the harmful and religiously divisive message that students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments\u2014or, more precisely, to the specific version of the Ten Commandments that H.B. 71 requires schools to display\u2014do not belong in their own school community and should refrain from expressing any faith practices or beliefs that are not aligned with the state\u2019s religious preferences,\u201d the complaint continues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The bill<\/a> requires the religious text to be in a \u201clarge, easily readable font\u201d on a poster-sized display paid through donations. Louisiana is the first state to implement such a law in more than four decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the 1980 Supreme Court case of\u00a0Stone v. Graham<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>the justices ruled in a 5-4 majority that a Kentucky law requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments was unconstitutional. The\u00a0court said<\/a>\u00a0the religious text had \u201cno secular legislative purpose\u201d and was \u201cplainly religious in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The plaintiffs in the present-day lawsuit come from various backgrounds. Some are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and non-religious. They are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, as well as Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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They are suing Louisiana\u2019s education department, Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, several school boards and other individuals connected to those entities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis law is a disturbing abuse of power by state officials,\u201d Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney for the ACLU\u2019s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>. \u201cLouisiana law requires children to attend school so they can be educated, not evangelized.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the same statement, Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, brought up the importance of the separation of church and state: \u201cWe must protect the individual right of students and families to choose their own faith or no faith at all. The separation of church and state is a bedrock of our nation\u2019s founding principles; the ten commandments are not.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed H.B. 71 into law on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIf you want to respect the rule of law, you\u2019ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses,\u201d\u00a0Landry said<\/a>\u00a0at last week\u2019s signing ceremony.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The law has gained\u00a0public support from former President Donald Trump<\/a>, who posted about it on\u00a0Truth Social<\/a>, his social media platform, on Friday: \u201cI LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER. READ IT \u2014 HOW CAN WE, AS A NATION, GO WRONG???\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoffpost<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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