VOA News | Wednesday, November 13, 2024 
Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — A new Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 has been temporarily blocked after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday. The judge said the law is “unconstitutional on its face” and plaintiffs are likely to win their case with claims that the law violates the First Amendment. The ruling marks a win for opponents of the law, who argue that it is a violation of the separation of church and state and that the poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments would isolate students, especially those who are not Christian. Proponents say that the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge issued the order in an ongoing lawsuit filed by a group of parents of Louisiana public school children. They say that the legislation violates First Amendment language forbidding government establishment of religion and guaranteeing religious liberty. The new law in Louisiana, a reliably Republican state that is ensconced in the Bible Belt, was passed by the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year. The legislation, which has been touted by Republicans including President-elect Donald Trump, is one of the latest pushes by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms — from Florida legislation allowing school districts to have volunteer chaplains to counsel students to Oklahoma’s top education official ordering public schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons…Read more