(The Center Square) – The U.S. District Court for the District of Middle Louisiana heard arguments and witness testimony on Gov. Jeff Landry’s House Bill 71, which requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom.
The plaintiffs — those arguing against the Commandments — are asking for a preliminary injunction to temporarily prohibit the display of the Commandments until the court makes a final decision on the constitutionality of the law.
Judge John deGravelles said on Monday that he will issue a decision by Nov. 15.
The court also took into consideration whether testimony from Dr. Steven Green, a professor at Willamette University, is admissible. Green was commissioned to do a report on the state’s claims that the Ten Commandments have been prominent in public education and a part of a broader tradition of the U.S. Constitution.
Green’s report concluded that there was little evidence to suggest the Ten Commandments played any role in the founding documents including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights.
Green’s report also concluded that there was little emphasis on the Ten Commandments in public education in the 18th or 19th centuries.
The central issue is whether the law violates the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion and safeguards individuals’ rights to practice their faith.
Attorneys filed a lawsuit to block the new law argued in the U.S. District Court that the legislation infringes on students’ religious freedom and would cause significant harm if schools are required to display posters by Jan. 1, as mandated. The case was brought by a group of parents who worry that the law brings religion into an inappropriate venue.
The plaintiffs also include the Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
“Religious education is very important for us to do as parents.” Darcy Roake, a minister in the Unitarian Universalist Church. “That is for my husband and I to have discussions with them.”
State attorneys argued that the lawsuit is premature, as schools have yet to display the commandments and the posters could be designed in a way that complies with the Constitution.
The state’s legal team, in a motion to dismiss the case, emphasized that it’s too early to determine the constitutionality of posters that have not yet been displayed.
“We believe it’s premature. The content, location, and timing of the posters are all relevant for legal considerations,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said after the hearing.
