(The Guardian) Louisiana’s governor Jeff Landry just signed legislation to require public classrooms display the Ten Commandments – setting up a clash over the separation of church and state that seems destined for the courts.
The Republican governor invoked Moses yesterday, as he signed the bill:
The supreme court has struck down previous attempts by states to mandate the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms, but they last ruled on the issue four decades ago.
www.theguardian.com
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(The Guardian) US civil liberties groups have sued Louisiana for what they called its “blatantly unconstitutional” new law requiring all state-funded schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
The state’s rightwing Republican governor, Jeff Landry, who succeeded the former Democratic governor John Bel Edwards in January, provocatively declared after signing the statute on Wednesday: “I can’t wait to be sued.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) joined with its Louisiana affiliate and two other bodies – Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom of Religion Foundation – to immediately take him up on his challenge by announcing they were doing precisely that.
In a joint statement, the ACLU and its allies said the law, HB 71, amounted to religious coercion. They also said it violated Louisiana state law, longstanding precedent established by the US supreme court and the first amendment of the US constitution, which guarantees separation of church and state.
The Republican governor invoked Moses yesterday, as he signed the bill:
The supreme court has struck down previous attempts by states to mandate the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms, but they last ruled on the issue four decades ago.
Ten Commandments to be displayed in Louisiana public school classrooms
Law passed requiring text to be displayed in every public school classroom, although lawsuits against it are expected
www.theguardian.com
-
(The Guardian) US civil liberties groups have sued Louisiana for what they called its “blatantly unconstitutional” new law requiring all state-funded schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
The state’s rightwing Republican governor, Jeff Landry, who succeeded the former Democratic governor John Bel Edwards in January, provocatively declared after signing the statute on Wednesday: “I can’t wait to be sued.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) joined with its Louisiana affiliate and two other bodies – Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom of Religion Foundation – to immediately take him up on his challenge by announcing they were doing precisely that.
In a joint statement, the ACLU and its allies said the law, HB 71, amounted to religious coercion. They also said it violated Louisiana state law, longstanding precedent established by the US supreme court and the first amendment of the US constitution, which guarantees separation of church and state.
