Louisiana imposed on Wednesday June 19 the display of the Biblical Ten Commandments on highly visible posters in all classrooms in this conservative state in the south of the United States. All public schools will be affected, from kindergarten to universities. The large American organization for the defense of freedoms ACLU immediately indicated that it would take the matter to court. Insights with the journalist specializing in American justice, Sébastien Natroll.
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RFI: Why did Louisiana decide to require the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools?
Sébastien Natroll : I think there are two main reasons for this. First, a religious reason: Louisiana is a Christian state and the Republican Party has been, at least since the 1970s, the party of the Christian right. The second reason is due to the Supreme Court of UNITED STATES. Since over time, we realize that his interpretation of the “ establishment clause » of the First Amendment which prohibits Congress from passing a law which will establish a religionhas become dull.
In 1980, the Supreme Court again rejected a similar attempt by Kentucky.
Yes, the Supreme Court had ruled, five to four, that displaying the Ten Commandments in a classroom violated this establishment clause of the First Amendment. But in 2005, we found a case, certainly less similar, but in which the Supreme Court expressed itself differently, with the Van Orden vs Perry decision. This was a public monument that displayed the Ten Commandments.
And there, the Supreme Court gave the green light, finding that there was a historical role and a secular significance. So I think that the governor of Louisiana, and the Parliament which passed this law, want to deliberately provoke a new legal case. Hoping this goes all the way to the Supreme Court and the conservative majority of the Supreme Court agrees with them.
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This law will in any case be contested by human rights organizations.
Yes, I think the Louisiana authorities are counting on it. Their idea is precisely to create this dispute to provoke a legal case, hoping to provoke a reversal of jurisprudence.
And is it possible?
In any case, this matter can go all the way to the Supreme Court. Normally, if it goes to court, Louisiana would lose in both the District Court and the Court of Appeals. And so there will be a petition to the Supreme Court. I imagine that it is possible to find four votes within the Supreme Court for it to agree to take up the matter. And if the Court agrees, this case law will be valid throughout the United States. Each state could therefore decide, through a law, to impose the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools.