Latest news with #TenCommandments
Buzz Feed
2 days ago
- Politics
- Buzz Feed
SCOTUS Backs Parents In Religious LGBTQ+ Book Case
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that a group of religious parents can opt their children out of elementary school curriculum that involves books with LGBTQ+ themes. In Mahmoud v. Taylor, a group of parents of a number of religions, including Catholics and Muslims, sued the Montgomery County, Maryland, public school board after the district removed a policy that allowed those with religious objections to pull their children out of class whenever a book with LGBTQ+ characters would be used for teaching. The parents argued the new policy violated their religious freedom to teach their own values to their children. In an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, the court ruled that the parents were entitled to a preliminary injunction against the policy. 'The parents are likely to succeed on their claim that the Board's policies unconstitutionally burden their religious exercise,' the majority wrote. 'The Court has long recognized the rights of parents to direct 'the religious upbringing' of their children.' The court also said the lower court's finding that the parents' arguments were 'threadbare' was incorrect. In a fiery dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that for poorer school districts, it may be too costly to engage in lawsuits over opt-outs or spend funds tracking student absences. 'Schools may instead censor their curricula, stripping material that risks generating religious objections,' she wrote. 'The Court's ruling, in effect, thus hands a subset of parents the right to veto curricular choices long left to locally elected school boards.' 'In a time of ever-increasing polarization in our country, exemptions that would require schools to allow children to refuse exposure to materials and curriculum about people from various backgrounds is divisive and harmful,' Deborah Jeon, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland said in April before the court heard oral arguments. The conservative justices didn't see it that way. 'They're not asking you to change what's taught in the classroom,' Justice Brett Kavanaugh said during arguments. 'They're only seeking to be able to walk out … so the parents don't have their children exposed to these things that are contrary to their own beliefs.' The decision is likely to have reverberations throughout the country. The Supreme Court has, in recent years, sided with plaintiffs who allege that antidiscrimination statutes are violations of their religious freedom, including a high school football coach who was fired for praying on the field and a website designer who didn't want to be forced to make wedding websites for same-sex couples. GOP-led states have been fighting to bring Christianity into public school classrooms by introducing bills to require displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and pushing Bible-based curricula for students as well. It's also another victory for right-wing culture warriors who, for the past several years, have been leading the movement to remove books from classrooms and reshape what and how schoolchildren are learning. Under the guise of parental rights, Republicans and conservative activists have pushed laws that ban books that deal with LGBTQ+ themes and censor what teachers can say about sexual orientation and gender identity. HuffPost.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Red states push religion in public schools. Supreme Court is their end game.
For hard-right Republicans eager to upend America's long legacy of religious freedom, unconstitutional legislation and legal challenges set the path. The Supreme Court is the destination. The creeping Christian nationalist plot to force religion into public schools ‒ calculated to provoke legal challenges that could allow the conservative U.S. Supreme Court supermajority to obliterate part of our First Amendment ‒ took one step forward and one step backward in the same week recently. For hard-right Republican state governors eager to upend America's long legacy of religious freedom, both steps probably feel like they point toward an eventual victory. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law on June 21 legislation mandating that public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments starting this fall. This is the same Greg Abbott who, just a day later, vetoed part of a different bill that would have accessed $450 million in federal funding for summer lunch programs for low-income children. Abbott prefers forcing religion down the throats of the children of Texas to actually feeding them. In Louisiana, on June 20, a three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a November ruling that found a similar law violated the opening line of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, known as the establishment clause, that prohibits our government from forcing religion on us in public places. Opinion: Louisiana's Ten Commandments push shows GOP doesn't care about the Constitution Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who signed the legislation last June, vowed to appeal. And of course he did. Landry gave up the game a year ago when he said, "I can't wait to be sued" for his Ten Commandments mandate. Unconstitutional legislation and legal challenges set the path. The Supreme Court is the destination. Buckle up for Supreme Court to decide Church v. State In Arkansas, seven families filed a federal lawsuit on June 11 seeking to block that state's version of the Ten Commandments mandate in public school classrooms. The law, signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is supposed to take effect in August. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU state chapters, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation are now representing families opposing the mandates in Louisiana and Arkansas. And they have vowed to take Texas to court. Rachel Laser, who leads Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told me these Ten Commandments mandates are "an effort to turn America into a country that prefers European Christians over a country that's dedicated to a pluralistic democracy and equality for all." She said the mandate proponents in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas are designed to "raise a new generation of Americans who are indoctrinated in that Christian nationalist lie that America is a country for European Christians," all in an effort to "get the Supreme Court to allow the Christianization" of public schools. Opinion: Threats against judges nearly doubled under Trump. Republicans blame the victim. Annie Laurie Gaylor, cofounder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, pointed to the First Commandment, taken by some literally, quoting God as saying, "You shall have no other gods before me." "No U.S. state or government ‒ whether Texas, Louisiana or Arkansas ‒ has the right to tell a captive audience of schoolchildren how many gods to worship, which gods to worship, or whether to worship any gods at all!" Gaylor told me. "The language of the First Commandment is the antithesis of our First Amendment." Christian nationalists want to unsettle our settled laws This is settled law that Christian nationalists want to unsettle. The Supreme Court in 1947 ruled that the Constitution's establishment clause applies to both the federal government and state governments. In a 1980 ruling, justices struck down a Kentucky law mandating the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Our nation's highest court ruled the same way in a similar Kentucky case in 2005. Opinion: Supreme Court reminds Trump to follow the law, signaling concern that he won't So what's changed? The Supreme Court. It tilted rightward in a supermajority in 2020 due to three nominations by Donald Trump during his first term as president. But what do Americans want? The Pew Research Center, in an analysis released June 23, cited its 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, which surveyed 37,000 American adults and found that 52% favored allowing teacher-led prayer in public schools while 46% opposed it. That was driven by strong support among Christians, especially evangelicals, matched by strong opposition from Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists and agnostics. And opinions varied when the survey was broken down, state by state, and when Americans were asked whether the prayers were to God with no specific mention of religion, or if Jesus was mentioned. Opinion newsletter: Sign up for our newsletter on people, power and policies in the time of Trump from columnist Chris Brennan. Get it delivered to your inbox. Three-quarters of the adults surveyed in Arkansas and Louisiana favored prayer in public schools that specifically referred to Jesus, while 61% backed that in Texas. And that's why the very First Amendment in our Constitution ‒ written as a list of priorities ‒ was crafted to protect Americans from the religious overreach of their government. It was intended to keep politicians like Abbott from force-feeding us his system of values that favors performative religious gestures over real-world caring for children. Now we wait until this fight reaches the Supreme Court, where the justices will have to show us whether they revere our constitutional freedoms more than a mandate that our own Founding Fathers would have certainly rejected. Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here. You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana Ten Commandments law ruled unconstitutional by federal appeals court
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday that Louisiana's law to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms is unconstitutional. Louisiana became the first state in the nation to pass the bill requiring public schools and universities to display the Ten Commandments in the 2024 regular legislative session. The law stated that it would be displayed with a large, readable font on an 11-by-14-inch poster or framed document. 'We strongly disagree with the Fifth Circuit's affirmance of an injunction preventing five Louisiana parishes from implementing HB71. We will immediately seek relief from the full Fifth Circuit and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court,' Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. 'The Ten Commandments are the foundation of our laws—serving both an educational and historical purpose in our classrooms. I fully support Attorney General Murrill's decision to seek an en banc panel to review the decision,' said Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. Timeline of Louisiana's Ten Commandments Law: June 19, 2024: A bill requiring public schools and universities to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was passed during the 2024 Regular Legislative Session. June 24, 2024: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit claiming the law violated students' First Amendment rights. Some religious leaders and activists also voiced opposition to the law. Aug. 5, 2024: Murrill called for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing it was premature and that the plaintiffs could not demonstrate actual harm. July 19, 2024: Louisiana agreed to pause implementation of the law until a hearing could be held, initially scheduled for Nov. 15. Oct. 21, 2024: A hearing debated whether the law should go into effect while its constitutionality is litigated. The preliminary injunction allowed arguments on both sides regarding the posting of the Commandments. Nov. 12, 2024: A federal judge ruled the law unconstitutional, prohibiting the display of the Ten Commandments in schools. Dec. 11, 2024: Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed an opening brief to defend Louisiana's Ten Commandments law in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Jan. 23, 2025: Oral arguments held in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to address the state's appeal of the preliminary injunction. Can public money flow to Catholic charter school? The Supreme Court will decide US Senator Bill Cassidy take steps to ensure public's trust in vaccines Supreme Court approves swift deportation Under Trump Policy Baton Rouge Police Chief shares vision for safer community as crime rate drops Our Lady of the Lake showcases newest surgical technology Suspect arrested, accused of shooting man after an argument in Baton Rouge Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana Attorney General files petition for full Fifth Circuit to rehear Ten Commandments law
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — On Thursday, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a petition for the full Fifth Circuit Court to review the state's Ten Commandment Law. 'The Fifth Circuit's panel decision in this case directly rejected the Fifth Circuit's own precedents and precedents from other circuits and the Supreme Court. This is exactly the sort of case that warrants full Court review, and we appreciate the Court's careful consideration,' Murrill said in a release. On June 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the state's law to display the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is unconstitutional. This bill passed in the 2024 Regular Legislative Session. Murrill argues that the ruling lacks standing, meaning the plaintiff has not encountered a Ten Commandments display. According to a Fifth Circuit precedent, an encounter with a religious display is required to establish standing. The state also believes the panel misused the 'Lemon v. Kurtzman' test. Louisiana says the panel used an outdated framework instead of using a historical analysis. Murrill wants the full Fifth Circuit to rehear the case to allow HB 71 to be implemented. Timeline of Louisiana's Ten Commandments Law: June 19, 2024: A bill requiring public schools and universities to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was passed during the 2024 Regular Legislative Session. June 24, 2024: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit claiming the law violated students' First Amendment rights. Some religious leaders and activists also voiced opposition to the law. Aug. 5, 2024: Murrill called for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing it was premature and that the plaintiffs could not demonstrate actual harm. July 19, 2024: Louisiana agreed to pause implementation of the law until a hearing could be held, initially scheduled for Nov. 15. Oct. 21, 2024: A hearing debated whether the law should go into effect while its constitutionality is litigated. The preliminary injunction allowed arguments on both sides regarding the posting of the Commandments. Nov. 12, 2024: A federal judge ruled the law unconstitutional, prohibiting the display of the Ten Commandments in schools. Dec. 11, 2024: Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed an opening brief to defend Louisiana's Ten Commandments law in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Jan. 23, 2025: Oral arguments held in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to address the state's appeal of the preliminary injunction. June 20, 2025: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law unconstitutional. Reproductive rights groups fear SCOTUS ruling will inspire anti-abortion politicians Trump's attacks on CNN, Fox underscore effort to stifle questions, put media on back foot Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary turned acclaimed TV journalist, dead at 91 Should ICE agents wear masks? Police seek tips after elderly woman hurt in Baton Rouge hit-and-run crash Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Texas' Ten Commandments in schools law challenged by families and faith leaders in lawsuit
A group of Dallas-area families and faith leaders have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a new Texas law that requires copies of the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom. The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday, claims the measure is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. Texas is the latest and largest state to attempt a mandate that has run into legal challenges elsewhere. A federal appeals court on Friday blocked a similar law in Louisiana. Some families have sued over Arkansas' law. The plaintiffs in the Texas lawsuit are a group of Christian and Nation of Islam faith leaders and families. It names the Texas Education Agency, state education Commissioner Mike Morath and three Dallas-area school districts as defendants. 'The government should govern; the Church should minister,' the lawsuit said. 'Anything else is a threat to the soul of both our democracy and our faith.' Ten Commandments laws are among efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Supporters say the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of the United States' judicial and educational systems and should be displayed. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Ten Commandments measure into law on June 21. He also has enacted a measure requiring school districts to provide students and staff a daily voluntary period of prayer or time to read a religious text during school hours. The Texas Education Agency did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Abbott, who was Texas attorney general in 2005 when he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court to keep a Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds, defended the state classrooms law in a social media post on Wednesday. 'Faith and freedom are the foundation of our nation,' Abbott posted on X. 'If anyone sues, we'll win that battle.' Opponents say the Ten Commandments and prayer measures infringe on others' religious freedom, and more lawsuits are expected. The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have said they will file lawsuits opposing the Ten Commandments measure. Under the new law, public schools must post in classrooms a 16-by-20-inch (41-by-51-centimeter) or larger poster or framed copy of a specific English version of the commandments, even though translations and interpretations vary across denominations, faiths and languages and may differ in homes and houses of worship. The lawsuit notes that Texas has nearly 6 million students in about 9,100 public schools, including thousands of students of faiths that have little or no connection to the Ten Commandments, or may have no faith at all.
