The Kentucky law, adopted in 1978, was challenged by a group of parents and children representing different religions.
The Kentucky courts upheld the law, but the Supreme Court reversed. In determining whether the law had the effect of establishing religion, the Court applied the test from Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and concluded that the required display of the Ten Commandments in schoolrooms served a religious purpose.
“The Ten Commandments are undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths, and no legislative recitation of a supposed secular purpose can blind us to that fact,” the Court wrote.
In another recent setback for religious freedom, U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman ruled that government-endorsed Ten Commandments displays in local Kentucky schools and courthouses violate the First Amendment and must be removed immediately.
""Judge Coffman's ruling is quite clear, and is a reiteration of her ruling last year," said David A. Friedman, General Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, which brought the challenges to the displays. "Our Constitution's ban on government establishment of religion is good for both government and religion. It keeps religion free, and it allows government to represent us all.""
In this year's ruling, Judge Coffman said the Ten Commandments displays violate the First Amendment because they have both the purpose and effect of government endorsement of religion.
The decision comes after Judge Coffman ordered similar displays in Harlan County Schools and the McCreary and Pulaski County courthouses removed last May.
But now a group of Kentucky House of Representatives passed a resolution that would allow for the return of a Ten Commandments monument to the grounds of the state capitol.
The granite display, which has faced numerous legal challenges over the years, was gifted to the state by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1971. The resolution passed in the House with a vote of 79-13 and will now move to the Senate for further consideration.
Georgia lawmakers are considering House Bill 313 (HB 313), which would require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in three prominent locations: the main entrance of the school, the main entrance of the library, and the main entrance of the cafeteria.Bills introduced by Republicans in the Texas Senate would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools and allow for schools to carve out time for students to read the Bible, in the latest effort by lawmakers in states to infuse religious doctrine in public education.
"The Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story," Sen. Phil King, the lead author of the bill, said in a statement Monday, adding that "if our students don't know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law."
A federal appeals court case about displaying the Ten Commandments in Louisiana public schools is poised to become the next major battleground over religion’s role in American public life. While the case has sparked familiar debates about church-state separation, it also presents an opportunity to reimagine how schools might teach about shared religious heritage in an increasingly diverse society.
The controversy centers on a Louisiana law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, alongside historical context about their influence on American law. After U.S. District Judge John deGravelles blocked the law’s enforcement in November, finding it “unconstitutional on its face,” Louisiana officials quickly appealed, setting up a showdown at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals beginning this year.
Opponents argue the law violates fundamental principles separating church and state. They point to a 1980 Supreme Court decision striking down the similar Kentucky law, emphasizing that mandatory religious displays in schools are particularly problematic because students — required by law to attend — have no choice but to encounter these religious messages daily. The law’s use of the Protestant King James Bible version of the Ten Commandments, they contend, shows it impermissibly favors one religious tradition over others. Requiring such displays, critics argue, sends a message of exclusion to non-Christian students.
Ohio’s lawmakers might decide whether to join Louisiana and Kentucky in passing laws that push public school classrooms to post the Ten Commandments. Such laws have repeatedly been struck down as unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment’s prohibition of governments’ “establishment of religion.”
Republican state Sen. Terry Johnson of McDermott thinks he can maneuver around these court precedents by claiming his bill is simply one requiring schools to post “historical displays.”
Given our current federal court leanings, he may well succeed. But in doing so his SB 34, the Historical Educational Displays Act, will institutionalize the very sort of indoctrination the GOP claims to oppose, critics say.
The Kern County Board of Education in California is currenlty considering a proposal to post the Ten Commandments in public schools, which has sparked a heated debate over the separation of church and state in the far left state. There are 46 school districts in Kern County CA and it would have to be brought to a vote in each districts board in order for the Ten Commandments to be posted in any other public schools.
Many community members and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) argue that posting the Ten Commandments violates the separation of church and state. The FFRF says that the Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms is unconstitutional.
At the board meeting, two presentations were made by ACLU lawyer Peter Eliasberg and Classics professor Nancy Meyer. Eliasberg highlighted the financial loss the board could take by adopting this and Meyer focused on the ethics of putting it up in the classroom.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
A bill filed by GOP Rep. Michael Hale would allow the Ten Commandments and other texts to be displayed in public schools. The new bill filed in Tennessee and loosely modeled after the Louisiana law is currently facing a legal battle that would require schools to display the Ten Commandments, a portion of the Declaration of Independence, and the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
Senate Bill 151, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) would require the documents to be displayed together in a “prominent area” of the school, including an entryway, the cafeteria, or other common area where students are likely to see them.
The goal is to “educate students on the significance of the Ten Commandments to the principles and ideals of the United States of America, as established in its founding documents,” according to the bill.
Sen. Pody told News 2 his bill is “almost going to piggyback off of Louisiana[‘s bill].”
JC Bowman, Executive Director & CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, said states could be trying to “poke the bear” now that the Supreme Court has swung more conservative.
“We know they challenge laws on a periodic basis to see if the Supreme Court will eventually overturn something. Maybe that’s the case here and the intent,” Bowman said. “If that’s the case, we don’t want to be guinea pigs, and I know no district wants to go in and say, ‘Okay, we’re required to do it,’ and all of a sudden we’ve got a lawsuit.”
Bowman suggests lawmakers could consider a bill to add “foundational documents,” which could include the Ten Commandments, to Tennessee’s social studies standards instead, which were just approved last year.
Bowman told News 2 he is not against the Ten Commandments, however, in 1980 the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that they are “plainly religious in nature,” and displaying them in schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment after Kentucky passed a law requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
“Whether I agree with it or not, it is the current law, and I don’t like public schools being used in Tennessee to try a case that could be drawn out and cost taxpayer money,” Bowman said.
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
