There are a lot of things that the Republicans who
control every branch of government in Louisiana should be focused
on right now.
Given that for the 2nd consecutive year, U.S.
News and World Report ranked it dead last in its
Best States report, it's no wonder why there's the rampant
industrial pollution caused by its oil and gas industry.
The 85 mile corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge,
now known as the Cancer Alley, where a recent study
found that the air is more toxic than previously thought.
Unsurprisingly, as NBC News noted, that industrial corridor was once
home to slave plantations before scores of petrochemical companies moved
in, polluting the air that fills the lungs of the
mostly black residents.
Another factor could be the state's crushing poverty.
Louisiana has the second highest poverty rate nationwide and the
third lowest median income of any state, ahead of only
West Virginia and Mississippi.
There's also Louisiana's long history of over incarceration to fuel
its use of forced labor.
As of 2022, Louisiana had the second highest incarceration rate
in the country, behind again, Mississippi.
Louisiana had been starting to turn around some of its
dismal statistics under its previous Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards.
In his two terms in office, he expanded Medicaid under
Obamacare and launched a criminal justice overhaul that successfully pushed
Louisiana out of the top spot as the nation's most
incarcerated state.
Louisiana was also making slow but steady progress in education,
making improvements in testing in math, science and social studies,
as well as improvements in reading.
Last year, for the first time in five years, reading
scores for Louisiana third graders went up.
But it seems there's only one thing that Louisiana's current
Republican governor, Jeff Landry seems to care about, Louisiana kids
being able to read.
This bill mandates the display of the 10 commandments in
every classroom in public elementary, secondary and post education schools
in the state of Louisiana.
Because if you want to respect the rule of law,
you got to start from the original lawgiver, which was
Moses.
That's right.
Amen.
All right, God gave Moses received.
That's right.
He got his.
He got his commandments from God.
And then he said brought him over us.
All right, all right.
Even before he signed that law, making Louisiana the first
and only state so far requiring the 10 commandments be
displayed in every classroom, Landry was touting it as a
right wing culture war victory.
He told a Republican fundraiser in Tennessee he can't wait
to be sued over the law.
Well, he's gotten his wish.
Four groups, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, the Freedom
of Religion, Freedom From Religion Foundation, and Americans United for
Separation of Church and State are suing Louisiana over its
10 commandments law.
Joining me now is Rachael Laser, president and CEO of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
So you're giving him his wish.
What they're arguing is the the the the president of
the Louisiana Family Forum named Dean Mills has argued that
the 10 commandments provide the foundations for modern day law
in America.
Can't seem to find it in the Constitution, but your
thoughts?
My thoughts are this law is a prime example of
Christian nationalism.
The Christian nationalism that's on March across this entire country.
What we're talking about is school children from a variety
of different religious backgrounds and none who are being forced
to read and venerate the school's preferred brand of Christianity.
That's why Americans United for Separation of Church and State
was created.
That's why we're suing in court with our partners.
And as a mom, I want to just point out
that we're talking about the religious freedom of school children.
Children, they're captive audiences in school.
They're impressionable.
No children should be made to feel afraid of being
ostracized or bullied or like they don't fit into the
in Group.
They're part of an out group based on their religious
beliefs.
Religious freedom belongs to all of us, not just some.
Well, there's also the point that if they're going to
go by Moses, they should display the Torah, not the
Bible.
But we won't go biblical and, you know, get technical.
They are feeling the wind at their backs.
The Christian nationalists because there have been Supreme Court rulings
in their favor.
So the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Christian
coaches right to play on prey on the 50 yard
line.
This is in the Kennedy versus Bremerton School District case
in 2022.
There have been other cases that have signaled that this
Supreme Court is ready to rule in favor of Christian
nationalism.
Are you concerned that a lawsuit that you all are
filing could go back to this six three Supreme Court,
Leonard Leos court and they could affirm that the entire
country can have this?
We have to be concerned.
And by the way, that Kennedy versus Bremerton case, Americans
United argued on behalf of the Bremerton School District.
We lost.
We're very concerned.
I mean, we not only have a series of rulings
in favor of a football coach being allowed to pressure
players to pray at a public school on the 50
yard line in favor of a state, Maine being forced
to fund religious education with taxpayers dollars, overturning Roe V
Wade.
The list is long.
And now we have a Supreme Court Justice who's telling
us he's aligned verbally and in the nationalist flag, the
appeal to heaven flag, he's flying, he flew outside of
his vacation home that he's aligned with Christian and nationalism.
So we are definitely concerned.
But what would the Supreme Court do?
Can't read tea leaves.
But this is a no brainer obvious case.
This would be over ruling over 40 years of precedent.
And here we go again, right with long standing precedent.
There was a case that specifically was about the 10
commandments being displayed in classrooms.
Michael Signorilli wrote a piece about it.
This was in 1980.
So we're talking about from that era.
There actually was a case that ruled on this and
they ruled, no, you cannot display this.
Absolutely.
That case was Stone versus Graham.
It was a very similar 10 commandments display in public
school classrooms in Kentucky.
The court said, Nope, that's unconstitutional.
It violates church state separation.
And every federal court that has considered this question has
ruled the same way.
The way that they're arguing that, you know, this is
somehow a foundational element in the Constitution.
There is nothing about the 10 commandments or the Christian
Bible in the Constitution, right?
Have I just read it wrong?
No, you've read it right.
The Constitution promises religious freedom.
It promises no religious test for anyone in public office.
It doesn't reference God.
Our Constitution is an American original.
It puts the power in the people, not in a
divine entity.
And it protects religion through doing that.
I mean, America is a very religious country.
And we are because religion isn't forced on anyone.
Religion can thrive that way.
Yeah.
And you know, and it is ironic to me that
these are the same people who will make the argument
that a pride flag in a classroom is indoctrination.
But they don't think the 10 commandments is indoctrination, do
you?
I mean, I see some irony there.
Yes, indeed.
I was just on a conservative talk show where they
made that exact argument.
And there is no separation of flags and state.
There is no separate of sexuality and state.
There's a separation of church and state and protects religious
freedom for all of us.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I hate to break it to folks, but Moses
was not a Christian.
That religion did not exist.
He was Jewish.
And so it's the tour that you want to be
displaying if that's where you want to go with this.
But that's not supposed to be in school either.
You're supposed to learn to read.
Rachel Laser, thank you very much and good luck.
Please keep us up to date.