In the opinion released Friday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was too early to make a judgment call on the constitutionality of displaying a highly edited version of the Ten Commandments in public schools.
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.
Parents of Louisiana public school children from various religious backgrounds filed the lawsuit arguing that it violates First Amendment language forbidding government establishment of religion and guaranteeing religious liberty.
The required text prescribed in the new law and used on many monuments around the U.S. is a condensed version of Scripture with ties to “The Ten Commandments” movie from 1956 and commonly associated with Protestants.
'This is religious favoritism, and it is not only dangerous, but runs counter to my religion and faith,' said the Rev. Jeff Sims, a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister and a plaintiff in the case.
Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday.
They would become the first state to require the religious text to be displayed in every public school classroom — in another expansion of Christianity into day-to-day life by a Republican-dominated legislature.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June 2022 has given new hope to those who want the Ten Commandments publicly displayed.
To commemorate World Day Against the Death Penalty on Tuesday, a number of prominent religious leaders gathered in front of the Louisiana governor's mansion in Baton Rouge to urge clemency hearings for 55 people on the state's death row.
‘We think that the clearing of Louisiana’s death row would be a monumental step towards the abolition of the death penalty,’ Vatican agency head said.