I want to update you on the legislation surrounding posting the Ten Commandments in Louisiana K-12 public school classrooms and state-funded universities. During the Spring 2024 session of the Louisiana legislature, House Representative Dodie Horton from Bossier Parish authored and introduced House Bill 71 (HB 71). This bill would require the displaying of the Ten Commandments in these classrooms. The displays must have a four-paragraph context statement describing the history of the Ten Commandments and how they were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.

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The bill passed committee review and was voted on by the House on April 10, 2024, winning approval by 82 yeas and 19 nays. It then progressed to the state Senate and was approved on May 28, 2024, by a vote of 79 yeas and 16 nays. From there, it was brought to Governor Jeff Landry’s desk and signed into law on June 19, 2024.

However, opposition arose from a multifaith group of 9 families, consisting of Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious parents represented by the ACLU, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The parents, representing 5 different southern Louisiana parishes, challenged the law, alleging the state was endorsing a specific religion. These 5 parishes include East Baton Rouge Parish, Livingston Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Orleans Parish, and Vernon Parish.

According to an article taken from the Liberty Council website, “Louisiana officials defended the Ten Commandments law as constitutionally valid by arguing that it has a historical and educational purpose. They cite the Decalogue’s “historical role” in developing American law and education, which displayed alongside other historical documents, would be permissible under the First Amendment. Since HB 71 also required public school classrooms to display the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance, the state’s legal team argued that the law’s intent is not to endorse a religion but to teach where America’s longstanding moral values in civic life originate.” (lc.org)

Whereas a lower court judge attempted to rule to block the posting of the document statewide, the U.S. Fifth Court of Appeals issued an order on November 15, 2024, which allows Louisiana to post the Ten Commandments in all of the other 67 parish school district classrooms beginning January 1, 2025, but not in the 5 parishes where parents expressed opposition. According to Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver, “The Ten Commandments is a universally recognized symbol of law and has indelibly shaped the Western Legal Tradition and American government. There are more than 50 displays of the Ten Commandments inside and outside the United States Supreme Court. The Ten Commandments are ubiquitous and their central role in law and government pre-date the U.S. Constitution. With this injunction narrowed to only five school districts, the Ten Commandments will be displayed in nearly all Louisiana public schools.” (lc.org)

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(Sue Garcia is an IFA Intercessor from Louisiana. Photo Credit: Michael Rivera – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48415924)