Court Tosses Bid To Get NON-RELIGIOUS Ten Commandments Display In Public Schools

Luckily, Scotus is a stickler for precedent these days!

Donald Trump is breaking all the things! Bu

t instead of writing about future attorney general Matt Gaetz (WTFingF?!?!) we’ve decided to run some good news instead.

Yesterday a federal judge in Louisiana blocked a state law that would have required public schools in the state to display a giant 11”x14” poster of the Ten Commandments in every single classroom. And he did it in a way designed to survive the all-out assault being waged against the barrier between church and state by the Christian right.

Build the Wall!

Louisiana’s legislature enacted HB71 in June, ordering teachers to post the Protestant version of the decalogue — and only the Protestant version — when kids returned to school in August. Local parents immediately sued to block the state from enforcing the law in a case called Roake v. Brumley.

In July, the state agreed to hold off on enforcing the statute until the court ruled. And now Judge John W. deGravelles, an Obama appointee to the Middle District of Louisiana, has preliminarily enjoined HB71 as unconstitutional, both facially and as applied. The state is barred from enforcing HB71, adopting rules or regulations to enforce it, or in any way requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools.

It’s a victory for Americans who still believe in the First Amendment and the right of children to go to school without religious indoctrination.

What Does It Mean To Make A Law “Respecting An Establishment Of Religion?”

This question used to have a relatively straightforward answer. Before Republicans packed the judiciary with rightwing ideologues, courts applied a three-factor test established by the Supreme Court in a 1971 case called Lemon v. Kurtzman. A state or federal law could only survive an Establishment Clause challenge if it satisfied all three prongs of the “Lemon test”: