Federal appeals courts are hearing Texas and Louisiana laws that would place the Ten Commandments in the respective states’ public school classrooms.

The attorneys general of both states appealed the laws after the 5th Circuit of Appeals deemed them both unconstitutional in 2025. These laws would mandate that “the Ten Commandments be permanently displayed in every public school, be in constant focus, and have large, readable letters,” said Amy Tai, an attorney on the Louisiana and Texas cases and a senior litigation counsel for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Tai argues that these requirements threaten the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from officially recognising a religion.

Tai said that the Texas and Louisiana laws not only “express a denominational preference,” but they “coerce schoolchildren to meditate on the Ten Commandments.”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she believes the law to be constitutional.

“We believe Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is constitutional, and we look forward to making that case before the Fifth Circuit today at 1,” Murrill said. “Thou shall not kill and thou shall not steal should not be controversial.”

However, some Loyola students voiced concerns about the law.

Nicholas Oliver, a sophomore majoring in political science and English, experienced parallel circumstances in his senior year when his high school installed the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

At the time, his classmates were “mostly confused, disgusted, and frustrated” by the rule. Oliver warns that these rules will make “people that aren’t Christian or agnostic feel uncomfortable in the classroom.”

Nora Ahmed, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union Louisiana Chapter and attorney on the Louisiana case cautions that legislation like this “endangers people’s right to practice or not to practice a religion … intertwines church and state.”

Trent Watts, a sophomore music major and member of the faith-based Alpha Chi campus organization, used to support a union of church and state, but now thinks they should be seperate.

“I think everyone should have the opportunity to be exposed to Jesus Christ, but at the same time, I believe in the First Amendment and the freedom of religion,” Watts said. “It’s unnecessary to put the Commandments in classrooms, because that’s why there’s church.”

The Louisiana law states that the Ten Commandments are “historical documents,” a perspective Tai disagrees with. Tai argues that the Commandments are religious documents.

“We hired a historian that says there’s no historical evidence that the Commandments are fundamental to U.S. law,” she said.

Viviana Capasso, a senior majoring in political science, disagrees with Tai’s hired historian.

“The United States is a nation founded on Christian values and morals… We shouldn’t impose our religion on others, but we also shouldn’t change our ways,” Capasso said.

Students relate the Texas and Louisiana laws to national political culture.

Oliver criticises the school system and politicians for enacting “worthless rules like this” for “political brownie points from the Trump administration.”

Olivers says that instead of garnering “political notoriety and Christian panic,” lawmakers should “be making school lunches consistently free, or introducing budgets that would funnel some money into extracurriculars and classroom supplies.”