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A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Louisiana law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Aubri Juhasz of member station WWNO has more on a case that raises questions about the separation of church and state.
AUBRI JUHASZ, BYLINE: When Louisiana's governor, Jeff Landry, signed the law, it drew national controversy. For parents who don't want religious commandments in their kids' classroom, he said in a press conference...
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JEFF LANDRY: If those posters are in school and they find them so vulgar, just tell the child not to look at it.
JUHASZ: Landry insists the law has less to do with religion and more with morals.
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LANDRY: Really and truly, I don't see what the whole big fuss is about.
JUHASZ: Andrew Perry is a lawyer with the ACLU of Louisiana - one of the groups challenging the law. He says, here's what the fuss is about.
ANDREW PERRY: The premise of the Constitution is that religion is something that is private and it succeeds best when the government just stays out of that conversation.
JUHASZ: This week, a federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama agreed. He prohibited the state from enforcing the law while the court challenge proceeds. The law is supposed to take effect in January. In his ruling, the judge said it has an oververtly religious purpose, and the plaintiffs are likely to win by claiming it violates the First Amendment, which protects freedom of religion.
Katherine Stewart researches Christian nationalism. She says for some of the law's supporters, the goal is to reach the Supreme Court, which has a conservative supermajority, and overturn precedent.
KATHERINE STEWART: The reason Christian nationalist leaders and activists are fighting for this law is because they know that symbolism matters. And it matters because it suggests that there's one group in society that is above all the rest.
JUHASZ: State officials argue the Ten Commandments have historic and cultural value, and that's why they should be displayed in schools. They say they're prepared to defend the law all the way to the Supreme Court.
For NPR News, I'm Aubri Juhasz in New Orleans.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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