Court blocks Louisiana law requiring schools to post Ten Commandments in classrooms
Source: AP
Updated 4:53 PM EDT, June 20, 2025
NEW ORLEANS (AP) A panel of three federal appellate judges has ruled that a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in each of the states public school classrooms is unconstitutional.
The ruling Friday marked a major win for civil liberties groups who say the mandate violates the separation of church and state, and that the poster-sized displays would isolate students especially those who are not Christian.
The mandate has been touted by Republicans, including President Donald Trump, and marks one of the latest pushes by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms. Backers of the law argue the Ten Commandments belong in classrooms because they are historical and part of the foundation of U.S. law.
The plaintiffs attorneys and Louisiana disagreed on whether the appeals courts decision applied to every public school district in the state or only the districts party to the lawsuit. All school districts in the state are bound to comply with the U.S. Constitution, said Liz Hayes, a spokesperson for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which served as co-counsel for the plaintiffs.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-ten-commandments-schools-federal-court-80d31b705fccbbbe3eeeb3cda5f64ec3
Article updated.
Original article -
NEW ORLEANS (AP) A panel of three federal appellate judges has ruled that a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in each of the states public school classrooms is unconstitutional.
The ruling on Friday marked a major win for civil liberties groups who say the mandate violates the separation of church and state, and that the poster-sized displays would isolate students especially those who are not Christian.
The mandate has been touted by Republicans, including President Donald Trump, and marks one of the latest pushes by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms. Backers of the law argue the Ten Commandments belong in classrooms because they are historical and part of the foundation of U.S. law.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order stems from a lawsuit filed last year by parents of Louisiana school children from various religious backgrounds, who said the law violates First Amendment language guaranteeing religious liberty and forbidding government establishment of religion.

wcmagumba
(4,462 posts)The 15 (oops, 10 commandments, per Mel Brooks History of the World) were not part of the foundation of American law...imo
walkingman
(9,620 posts)no_hypocrisy
(52,391 posts)Until this goes to the USSC, Texas is stuck with secular humanism (a/k/a religious neutrality).
walkingman
(9,620 posts)Not only do they want the 10 commandments in public schools but also chaplains and are forced to include new curriculum materials that teach the Bible and other religious texts alongside grade-school lessons.
BOSSHOG
(43,445 posts)At the state and fed level. Nor any respect for the separation of church and state.
Churchs are FREE to indoctrinate their kids in a church of their choice in a tax exempt status. Because of the Constitution. They cant codify their beliefs. Because of the Constitution. Its there for all to read and comply with.
Im still chuckling at the Catholic Church in Kansas which insisted in 2022 that banning abortion be put to a vote of the people. The Church got their wish to attempt to codify a religious belief. The people voted. They lost 59-41. The thought still cheers me up.
slightlv
(6,197 posts)I was one of those going around town advocating for women's rights in relation to this bill. Which was written so cockammie that an ordinary person needed a lawyer just to understand what was written in plain sight! (LOL)
Also, my sister (who is catholic only because it was required when she married a catholic) teaches at one of the barrio catholic schools in this diocese. She was SO angry because the church is always starving this poor school of money, and yet unleashed millions into this unnecessary legal action, which it truly had no right to do given separation of church and state. I don't think she has gotten over that anger yet! Not from the angle of cheating her school and kids out of money they needed, nor from the women's rights angle.
mwb970
(11,889 posts)Do they think that kids will read "Put no gods before me" on their classroom wall and their lives will be changed forever? That's dumb. The kids will ignore and mock the posters, which make the achools sound like idiots.
Religious people drive me crazy with their grotesque ideas and behavior.
slightlv
(6,197 posts)they wouldn't NEED to do this... after all, the church had millenia to teach people the "right" way to act. Hasn't worked, even tho indoctrination began in early childhood with "Sunday School." (WHO wants to go to school on Sunday?!).
Now they thing tacking stuff up on walls will work? They're church... they're god... is so weak and ineffective he can't deal with something as evil as trump, yet they want us to believe THIS stuff will work? GIVE me a fracking break!
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(126,535 posts)republianmushroom
(20,785 posts)Unless you want to remind people how much of a hypocrite they are.
AllaN01Bear
(26,685 posts)the south has been trying to shove this down our throats for years .quit shoving " your " morality " down my throat.
truthisfreedom
(23,440 posts)1. You shall not commit adultery. Well, Donald cheated on his wife with a porn star we know that his efforts to hush it up led to his felony conviction. A Newsweek article provides evidence that he cheated on his wives (hes had three) multiple times.
2. Honor your father and mother. He seems to have followed this one. He frequently spoke well of his parents despite his fathers overbearing nature. For example in his book The Art of the Deal, he wrote: The most important influence on me, growing up, was my father, Fred Trump. I learned a lot from him. and my mother was the perfect housewife.
3. Remember to keep the Lords day holy. Most people in todays secular society have failed this one, and Trump is no exception. For example, he held his famous Madison Square Garden rally October 27, 2024 on a Sunday. No big deal, but still no check mark on this one.
4. You shall not murder. Despite Trumps claim that he could shoot someone on 5th avenue and not lose any votes, theres no evidence that he has personally murdered anyone. Trumps policies on the other hand, have led to the deaths of uncounted individuals around the world. His policy, for example, of dragging his heels at the start of the COVID pandemic led to many more people dying of the disease than if he had acted quickly and with resolution (see, for example, this Washington Post article). His more recent cutting off of foreign aid to many impoverished countries around the world will likely result in thousands (or more) of children dying from malnutrition, lack of medical care, violence resulting from economic instability, and more. Isnt that a kind of murder?
5. You shall not bear false witness. In other words, you shouldnt lie. Trump lies through his teeth. Although he has never been convicted of perjury in a court of law, in his speeches he lies right and left like there was no tomorrow. No need to back this up with news reports, since any of his speeches contain numerous falsehoods. Oh, okay, heres a link, just to be consistent. According to Wikipedia: Donald Trump has made tens of thousands of false or misleading claims, including during his first and second terms as President of the United States.
6. You shall have no other gods before you. To my knowledge, no one has ever accused Trump of bowing down to Hindu idols or Polynesian deities. But if you include wealth as a god, he certainly has put that up at the top of his priorities. In that sense, he has worshiped the god Mammon (in the New Testament Mammon is commonly thought to mean money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth). According to Politico, Some pundits have speculated that white evangelicals are attracted to Trump because his mammon-and-megalomania message resonates with the prosperity gospel of many evangelical megachurches, which emphasize health and wealth in this world over salvation in the next.
7. You shall not steal. From the New York State Attorney Generals office: Trump was forced to pay more than $2 million in court-ordered damages to eight different charities for illegally misusing charitable funds at the Trump Foundation for political purposes. CNN cites the contractors that Trump cheated when building his Atlantic City casino The Taj Mahal. And those are just the tip of the iceberg.
8. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. This commandment, like keeping the Sabbath, is not a huge issue in todays profane culture, but for the record, yes, Trump has taken the name of the Lord in vain. The Weeks website, for example said: Donald Trump is the first president to make C-SPAN unsuitable viewing for children. The president used language that some may find offensive, reads a disclaimer on C-SPANs website for a speech he gave in July [2019]. In that speech, President Trump said, If you dont support me, youre going to be so goddamn poor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbors goods. In other words, you should not desire things that belong to others. Where do I start? Well, for example, take his recent idea to grab Gaza and throw out all two million Palestineans from their own God-given land, while he builds a Club Gaza on the coastline that he will financially benefit from. Or Greenland, or the Panama Canal. As far as other things Trump might covet, dont get me started.
10. You shall not covet your neighbors wife. No one can get inside the mind of Trump and truly know if he does this, but his words give us some clear indication of his intent. Take for example, the famous secret Access Hollywood tapes that had him confessing: Im automatically attracted to beautiful I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. Just kiss. I dont even wait . . . When youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab em by the pussy. You can do anything.
Okay, lets do some adding up. On a scale of 1 to 10, on the question of Trump following the Ten Commandments, he scores a 1. He has not followed 9 of the 10 Commandments. But he wants them to be posted for every school child to read. Do what I say, not what I do. And 77,302,580 of you voted for this man. Were in terrible times, folks, and winter may last for 1000 years.
https://www.institute4learning.com/2025/02/12/trump-flunks-the-ten-commandments/