Louisiana

Some Louisiana schools can’t post Ten Commandments while law is challenged

Published

1 year ago

July 20, 2024

Some Louisiana schools can’t post Ten Commandments while law is challenged

Last month, Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed a bill that made Louisiana the only state that requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom — a move that quickly prompted a group of parents to file a lawsuit alleging the new law is unconstitutional.

But while the law is tested in court, Louisiana has to hold off on posting biblical signs in the five parishes where the plaintiffs’ children attend school, according to an agreement approved Friday by a federal judge.

In an order, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles of Louisiana’s Middle District set a hearing for Sept. 30 with a ruling expected by Nov. 15. Until then, the Ten Commandments can’t be displayed in schools located in the parishes of East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Orleans, St. Tammany and Vernon. Additionally, the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education cannot “promulgate advice, rules or regulations regarding proper implementation” of the new law until Nov. 15, the agreement states.

Under the new law, public K-12 schools and college classrooms must display the Ten Commandments — religious and ethical directives that in the Bible are handed down to the prophet Moses — on posters measuring at least 11 by 14 inches and featuring “large, easily readable font.” Schools are also required to post a three-paragraph statement that explains how the texts were “a prominent part of American public education” from the late 17th century through the late 20th century. The law gives schools until Jan. 1 to put up the Ten Commandments, and requires them to use donated posters or spend donated money, rather than public funds, to buy the displays.

Since it overwhelmingly passed in the Republican-controlled state legislature, the law has drawn national attention and become the latest example of lawmakers undertaking efforts that blur the lines between church and state — a battle that has particularly been brewing in public schools.

Five days after Landry signed the bill, on June 24, a coalition of advocacy groups, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the American Civil Liberties Union’s national and state offices, filed a federal lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the case are nine Louisiana families of different faiths — among them four members of the clergy — who allege the law violates First Amendment language forbidding government establishment of religion and guaranteeing religious liberty.

“Permanently posting the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana public-school classroom — rendering them unavoidable — unconstitutionally pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture,” says the suit, which charges that there is no long-standing tradition of hanging the commandments in classrooms and that courts have already ruled against the practice.

On July 8, the groups filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to refrain from imposing the law or allowing any related enforcement of it during pending legal proceedings. The move, said Rev. Darcy Roake, a plaintiff in the case, sought to “ensure that our family’s religious-freedom rights are protected from day one of the upcoming school year.”

“The Ten Commandments displays required under state law will create an unwelcoming and oppressive school environment for children, like ours, who don’t believe in the state’s official version of scripture,” Darcy said in a statement this month. “We believe that no child should feel excluded in public school because of their family’s faith tradition.”

However, under the terms of the agreement, only students in five Louisiana parishes won’t see the Ten Commandments when they return to school next month.

The latest pushes to post the Ten Commandments in schools comes after similar — albeit failed — attempts throughout decades. In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that a similar law in Kentucky violated the establishment clause of the Constitution, which bars the federal government from favoring any one religion. Other proposals to display the Ten Commandments in schools have been introduced — but have not become law — in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and South Carolina.

Yet, recent Supreme Court rulings have been more lenient toward religion in schools. In 2022, the court ruled in favor of a Washington state football coach who knelt at midfield to pray and was joined by student-athletes. The prayers were protected by the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech and religious exercise, the court ruled.

The Louisiana law has already been praised by members of the religious right and has found the support of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

During a gathering of the evangelical Faith and Freedom Coalition, Trump endorsed the Ten Commandments law, telling attendees: “Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal?’ I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible. They don’t want it to go up. It’s a crazy world.’’

At the Republican National Convention on Thursday, the law was once again touted — this time by Landry, who connected it with the assassination attempt against Trump.

“I would submit that maybe if the Ten Commandments were hanging on [Thomas Matthew Crooks’] wall at the school that he was in, maybe he wouldn’t have took a shot at the president,” Landry said in an interview with Nexstar, the Louisiana Illuminator reported.

Anumita Kaur and Michelle Boorstein contributed to this report.

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Louisiana

How Trump’s AI executive order impacts Louisiana

Published

4 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

How Trump’s AI executive order impacts Louisiana

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – The federal government is building a nationwide standard as the United States competes in a global A.I. race, much the same as the Space Race of the 20th century.

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a uniform federal regulatory framework for artificial intelligence in the United States.

The order emphasized a need for AI companies to be allowed to innovate without hinderance from excessive regulations, so that the system would not become fragmented.

Marva Bailer is the CEO and founder of Qualaix, which works to improve productivity and innovation with AI through conversations. She said this framework a step towards realizing an untapped potential in the United States for innovation and productivity through AI.

“We are leading the AI race,” said Bailer. “What is getting people’s attention is there are areas that we could be a lot stronger and lean in a lot faster.”

We spoke with KALB political analyst Greg LaRose to learn how this new framework might impact Louisiana’s development.

Since 2024, the construction of multiple AI data centers has been announced across the state, with each new center estimated to be worth billions of dollars and promising new jobs and growth for Louisiana.

According to LaRose, the executive order should not realistically confine any of the state’s major AI projects.

“Through the Louisiana lens at that executive order from President Trump, I’m not really seeing anything that really confines what’s going on in the state.”

The majority of the state’s laws are concerned with deep fakes.

In October, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry issued his own executive order which banned, “Communist Chinese AI platforms’ from systems within state government.”

While it is unclear how Louisiana will enforce Landry’s order, LaRose said the state does face other concerns.

“I think they’re more concerned about giving China access to the data that is used to create, say, a Louisiana-based deep fake or any type of issue,” said LaRose. “For example, like transcription software that people are increasingly using to make record-keeping a lot easier. I think the idea is that that type of information be kept out of hands that we don’t want it in.”

This, as the global AI race heats up heading into 2026.

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Louisiana

Third inmate who escaped from southern Louisiana jail captured, officials say

Published

17 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Third inmate who escaped from southern Louisiana jail captured, officials say

December 19, 2025 / 11:28 PM EST
/ CBS/AP

The last of two inmates who had been on the run since escaping from a jail in the southern Louisiana city of Opelousas earlier this month has been caught, officials said Friday. A third inmate who was also part of the escape died by suicide after being caught by police, authorities previously said.

Keith Anthony Eli II, 24, was taken into custody in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said in a news release. Opelousas is located about 25 miles north of Lafayette.

Guidroz said Eli was captured by narcotics detectives and a SWAT team thanks to a tip.

At the time of his escape, Eli was held on an attempted second-degree murder charge.

The three men had escaped the St. Landry Parish Jail on Dec. 3 by removing concrete blocks from an upper wall area, Guidroz said at the time.

Authorities said the inmates then used sheets and other materials to scale the exterior wall, climb onto a first-floor roof and lower themselves to the ground, Guidroz said.

Escapee Jonathan Joseph, 24, was captured on Dec. 5. He is in custody on multiple charges, including first-degree rape.

Joseph Harrington, 26, faced several felony charges, including home invasion. On Dec. 4, one day after the escape, he was recognized by a tipster while pushing a black e-bike. Police found the e-bike at a neighboring home and heard a gunshot while trying to coax him to leave the building. He had shot himself with a hunting rifle, Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux said by telephone to The Associated Press.

The escape came more than seven months after 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail. All ten of since been captured.

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Louisiana

MS Goon Squad victim arrested on drug, gun charges in Louisiana. Bond set

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

MS Goon Squad victim arrested on drug, gun charges in Louisiana. Bond set

Eddie Terrell Parker, a victim in the “Goon Squad” case, was arrested in Louisiana on multiple charges.
Parker was stopped for traffic violations and allegedly found with several narcotics and at least one firearm.
The charges include possession with intent to distribute several drugs and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Parker and another man previously settled a $400 million lawsuit against Rankin County after being tortured by former officers.

Eddie Terrell Parker, one of two men who settled a civil lawsuit against Rankin County and the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in the “Goon Squad” case, was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 17, and is being held in a northeast Louisiana jail on multiple charges.

Louisiana State Police Senior Trooper Ryan Davis confirmed details of the incident to the Clarion Ledger via phone call on Friday, Dec. 19.

Davis said Parker was traveling east on Interstate 20 in Madison Parish, Louisiana, when a trooper observed Parker committing “multiple traffic violations.” Davis said the trooper conducted a traffic stop, identified themselves and explained the reason for the stop.

Parker was allegedly found in possession of multiple narcotics, along with at least one firearm.

Parker was booked around 8 p.m. Wednesday into the Madison Parish Detention Center in Tallulah, Louisiana, on the following charges, as stated by Davis:

Possession of marijuana with intent to distribute
Possession of ecstasy with intent to distribute
Possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute
Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled substance
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

Details about the quantity of narcotics found in Parker’s possession were not immediately available.

Davis told the Clarion Ledger that Parker received a $205,250 bond after appearing before a judge.

Parker, along with another man named Michael Jenkins, was tortured and abused on Jan. 24, 2023, at a home in Braxton, at the hands of six former law enforcement officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad.” Parker and Jenkins filed a lawsuit in June 2023 against Rankin County and Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey.

Each of the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers involved in the incident are serving prison time for state and federal charges. Those officers were identified as former Rankin County deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield.

Court documents show U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III issued an order on April 30 dismissing a $400 million lawsuit brought by Jenkins and Parker, saying that the two men had reached a settlement with the county and Bailey. Jenkins and Parker sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest and other costs.

According to court records, the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. However, the order stated that if any party fails to comply with settlement terms, any aggrieved party may reopen the matter for enforcement of the settlement.

Jason Dare, legal counsel for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, stated the settlement agreement totaled to $2.5 million. According to Dare, the settlement was not an admission of guilt on the county’s or the sheriff’s department’s part.

Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.

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