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Annual Meeting

Ten Commandments displays should not be required in public school classrooms, ABA House says

By Danielle Braff

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Ten Commandments

A version of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

The ABA’s House of Delegates overwhelmingly agreed at its annual meeting Monday to oppose legislation permitting or requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools and to urge the repeal of such laws already in place.

Resolution 503 also opposes legislation and urges the repeal of laws allowing religious leaders to volunteer or be hired to provide counseling or mental health support in public schools when they don’t have the proper certifications to do so.

During the meeting at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, delegates spoke of the issues involving religion in public schools—from discrimination to the dangers of hiring unqualified religious leaders to help with serious mental health issues.

“All students should feel safe and welcome in our public schools,” said Darcee S. Siegel, a delegate for the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division, which co-sponsored the resolution along with the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, the Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice, the Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline and the Standing Committee on Public Education.

This resolution comes on the heels of a bill signed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry requiring every public school classroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments on a poster that’s at least 11 by 14 inches in size.

Follow along with the ABA Journal’s coverage of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting here.

In June, a group of nine Louisiana families filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana saying the statute violates the First Amendment U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

The Supreme Court ruled in a First Amendment case about religious expression in public schools in 2022. In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the court found in favor of a high school coach Joseph Kennedy, whose contract was not renewed after he held prayers on the field after football games. Kennedy was reinstated after the ruling.

Related topics:

First Amendment | Constitutional Law | Education Law | Government | ABA | Bar Associations | Religious Law | Annual Meeting | Public Interest

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