Originally published at National Catholic Register
A federal judge in Louisiana on Tuesday blocked a state law that requires schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, describing the measure as both “coercive” and “unconstitutional.”
A coalition of state residents had sued the Louisiana government earlier this year to block the state rule, arguing that the displays would run afoul of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In his ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles said the rule violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment and further that it constitutes a “coercive” state measure since parents are required by law to send their children to school.
There are “any number of ways that the state could advance an alleged interest in educating students about the Ten Commandments that would be less burdensome on the First Amendment” than the posting rule, deGravelles said.
Students “cannot opt out of viewing the Ten Commandments when they are displayed in every classroom, every day of the year, every year of their education,” the judge noted.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who is Catholic, signed the legislation earlier this year. It requires that the Ten Commandments be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least
