AFPI Supports Louisiana’s Ten Commandment Law

Washington, D.C. — The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) shared the statement below in response to news that the Fifth Circuit will rehear the case Roake v. Brumley and review the district court’s ruling that struck down Louisiana’s Ten Commandment law.

AFPI previously submitted an amicus brief in support of the state of Louisiana, underscoring the historical and constitutional foundations of the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses and affirming Louisiana’s law calling for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms.

“The Religion Clauses of the First Amendment are not aimed at protecting individuals, society, or the state from religion, but were in fact enacted for the benefit of religious Americans. The district court’s decision to strike down the Louisiana Ten Commandments law misses this important distinction,” said Tyler Cochran, Associate Attorney for AFPI. “The Founding Fathers understood the importance of religion to the maintenance of a free society and would have no issue with states like Louisiana affirming our Nation’s longstanding practice of recognizing the religious heritage that shaped our laws and institutions.”

In addition to misinterpreting the Establishment Clause as guaranteeing freedom from religion, the Court also fails to acknowledge that the First Amendment protects citizens from compelled religious exercise – not from the recognition of the Nation’s religious heritage that shaped its laws and institutions.

The America First Policy Institute remains committed to honoring America’s religious heritage and safeguarding it for the generations of Americans to come.