Inside The 'Imminent' Legal Fight Challenging Louisiana Law Requiring Ten Commandments In Classrooms

[Music] hi everybody I'm Britney Lewis with Forbes breaking news joining me now is freedom from religion foundations Deputy legal director Elizabeth Cavell Elizabeth thank you so much for joining me thank you for having me a new law in Louisiana will require all public schools to display the Ten Commandments beginning in 2025 so we're going to break this law down but before we do what is your reaction well my reaction is that this law is blatantly unconstitutional and it's just wrong I want to talk about the unconstitutionality of it because separation of church and state is The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment so is this a cut and dry case well it should be this should be an easy case uh if the courts follow clearly established precedent um posting the or requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in every single public school classroom in the state is a clear violation of the First Amendment there's been a case on exactly this issue in the past at the Supreme Court um and federal courts have uniformly upheld the separation of church and state in our Public Schools Louisiana is the first state in the country to pass this type of legislation what do you think is the broader implication here now that it has passed well I think it's a troubling trend um towards uh pushing the boundaries of greater and greater um mix between religion and government and I think that the state of Louisiana is uh counting on the courts to ignore past cases and to kind of Forge A New Path and allow greater mixing between religion and government and our public schools which again has never been done before and for good reason um state representative from Louisiana Lauren ventrella she's a republican she's one of the co-authors of the legislation she said this on CNN quote I got a dollar bill in my wallet in God we trust is written on that dollar it is not forcing anybody to believe one Viewpoint it's merely posting a historical reference on the wall for students to read and interpret if they choose what do you make of her argument well I think it's disingenuous on a few counts not number one um the idea that somehow it's voluntary um it just ignores just egregiously the coercive environment that is a public school classroom um we're not talking about a dollar bill in your pocket we're talking about the Ten Commandments one religious sex holy laws posted on every single classroom wall in the entire state of Louisiana that's kindergarten classrooms that's first grade classrooms that's College classrooms um that's every single classroom's walls so students don't have a choice they have to be confronted with the Ten Commandments if they want to go to public school which is their right and by the way their obligation under law they're a captive audience um so there's no equivalency between in God we trust on our dollars and posting the Ten Commandments in every single public school classroom to your point about uh students don't have a choice when she was on CNN later in the interview the interviewer asked her what do you say to parents essentially or and students that don't believe this and she said don't look at it what do you make of that that breaks my heart because Public Schools should be and I I would hope that our elected officials in Louisiana's elected officials feel this way Public Schools should be a place that's for all children not just the children that um agree with the religion of the lawmakers it should be a place where every kindergartener feels welcome and doesn't have to feel like an outsider and doing this it's almost like that lawmaker is acknowledging that posting the Ten Commandments in every single classroom is going to make Outsiders of some students but she doesn't care they can just look away the freedom from religious religion foundations partnering with the ACLU to file a lawsuit challenging this legislation can you talk to us a little bit about the legal efforts here so this will be h a coalition effort meaning multiple organizations will be joining in the lawsuit it hasn't been filed yet but it will be filed soon um and I know that there is a wide Coalition of groups and individuals um representing by the way Louisiana parents students and families who are going to be made second class citizens in their public schools by virtual of this law and so um I know the Coalition is ready and um feels strongly about uh the the legal standing that uh the lawsuit has and are looking forward to representing the rights and the views of Louisiana families that are going to be harmed by this law before he signed this bill into law the Louisiana governor said that he couldn't wait to be sued reportedly what do you make of that again in my view that's a pretty irresponsible view for an elected official um I think there are better ways to use uh taxpayer dollars than to deliberately try to get sued but here's what he means by that he is counting on the courts to do his bidding um and to overturn Decades of established precedent and further and further allow religious coercion in our Public Schools um that's what he means by that he's eager to even though he knows that the state is violating the law or the established law by passing this bill he knows or he thinks that the courts will back him up um and he's excited to be sued because of course this is a um you know political culture War issue that I think a lot of politicians like to um signal with but the reality is there are students and families on the other side of this law that are going to be harmed that are going to be alienated that are going to be made into Outsiders or bullied or worse because um the governor and the legislature of Louisiana are trying to uh make a point or trying to get sued um whatever the motivation is there um there are students who are going to be harmed and that's not anybody idea of good lawmaking can you talk to us a little bit about some of those harms because 2025 when this would go into effect is in just six months it would be the next school year that's right um so like you said this law mandates that starting this next school year every single school classroom must post the Ten Commandments and the harm is that as everyone all kids K through 12 through college go back to school this fall they're going to be faced when they walk into their classrooms with the Ten Commandments um I am the Lord thy God you must worship me um you can't commit idolatry you must observe the sabbath these are religious Commandments they holy laws and not every student by any by a long shot in Louisiana in every single Parish in every single School in every single classroom shares those religious beliefs students are going to be confused they're going to be alienated and it religion is going to do what it often does which is create divisions um and bullying and second class citizens and in the place that's supposed to be safe for all of our kids which is our Public Schools I know that this bill was just signed into law this week the freedom from religion foundation and the ACLU didn't didn't file their suit yet but what's next in your legal fight well like I said the lawsuit is imminent it will be f soon um probably as soon as next week um but regardless the students and families in Louisiana who are not only non-religious but who belong to minority religions or who are Christians who belong to another sect that maybe doesn't agree with this particular version by the way being edited and drafted by the Louisiana legislature um this is a wide coalition ition of Louisiana's families students parents who are fighting for their right to freedom of conscience and to have access to public schools and have their students have access to public education free from religious coercion that's the right of every American including in Louisiana um and so we're looking forward to um fighting for those louisianans and fighting for the right of every kid to enjoy a public educ that doesn't involve religious coercion that is safe that is welcoming Elizabeth Cavell thank you so much for your time and as this develops I hope you come back on and join me

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Length: 9min 51sec (591 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 21 2024