South Dakota Searchlight-Josh Haiar
A committee of South Dakota lawmakers voted 4-3 to endorse a bill Thursday in Pierre that would require public school districts to teach the Ten Commandments and display them in every classroom. It came during Thursday’s South Dakota Senate Education Committee meeting.
The vote came after an hour of testimony that included opposition from public school groups. The legislation now heads to the full state Senate.
The bill would mandate 8-by-14-inch posters with “easily readable font.” It would repeal existing language in state law allowing local school boards to choose to display the Ten Commandments.
The bill would also require the Ten Commandments to be taught as part of history and civics classes three times during a student’s education — at least once during each of the elementary, middle and high school years. Additional provisions in the bill would require instruction on the state and federal constitutions, the federal Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.
The bill would require the Ten Commandments to be presented “as a historical legal document, including the influence of the Ten Commandments on the legal, ethical, and other cultural traditions of Western civilization.”
A freshman lawmaker, Sen. John Carley, R-Piedmont, introduced the bill. He said early American textbooks, like the New England Primer and McGuffey Readers, featured the Ten Commandments.
“I don’t think that there’s a singular document, perhaps outside the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, that has been more ubiquitous in law, in government and education and media and culture, than the Ten Commandments,” Carley said.
Elijah O’Neal from the American Journey Experience Museum in Texas also spoke in favor of the bill. The museum’s website says it covers topics including “Biblical Worldview” and “Christianity’s Influence in America.” He said the Ten Commandments provide timeless moral guidance.
O’Neal also spoke on behalf of WallBuilders, a Texas-based organization supporting similar legislation in North Dakota. The organization says it helps Americans “celebrate and safeguard the authentic history of our nation.”
Earlier this year, Louisiana became the first state to enact a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all classrooms. The Louisiana law is being challenged in court by parents who allege that it violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against state-sponsored religion. Similar legislation failed in Texas in 2023, but supporters plan to try again this year.
Legality debated
Opponent testimony came from the South Dakota School Administrators Association, the South Dakota Association of School Boards, the South Dakota United Schools Association, the South Dakota Large School Group, American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, and some local religious leaders.
Opponents said the bill violates the state and federal constitutions. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits laws “respecting an establishment of religion.” South Dakota’s constitution says “No person shall be compelled to attend or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship.” It goes on to say that “No money or property of the state shall be given or appropriated for the benefit of any sectarian or religious society or institution.”
The Rev. Lauren Stanley, an Episcopal priest, said the bill violates the separation of church and state.
“Teaching the Ten Commandments as a basis for our laws, which is what this bill calls for, is clearly a violation of the right to religious freedom,” she said.
Bill supporter and Texas attorney Matt Krause said a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, concluded that public displays of religious symbols “rooted in history and tradition” are constitutionally permissible. In that case, the court ruled that a high school football coach’s on-field prayers were protected under the First Amendment.
Krause is a Republican former Texas state representative who has been advocating for Ten Commandments legislation around the nation for the First Liberty Institute.
Rob Monson, representing South Dakota school administrators, said the bill removes local decision-making and imposes a one-size-fits-all mandate.
“If we believe putting the Ten Commandments on every classroom wall is going to have some sort of moral bearing on students, I think we’re horribly mistaken,” he said.
Opponents warned the law could provoke lawsuits, risking taxpayer expense. They also questioned how controversial or adult themes in the Ten Commandments, such as adultery, would be explained to young students.
Lawmakers split
Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, voted against the bill. He is a former public school teacher and the lone Democrat on the Senate Education Committee.
Smith said there are different versions of the Ten Commandments, and he did not grow up with the version Carley wants displayed.
“There’s a lot of people in this room that have talked about indoctrination, especially towards me, because of the party that I’m a member of,” he said. “I’ve heard it over and over about the indoctrination of the left. And you’re going to stand here today and tell me we’re not trying to do something in the other direction right now?”
The committee chairman, Sen. Kyle Schoenfish, R-Scotland, also voted against the measure. He said a statewide mandate is not necessary when current law already allows schools to choose to display the Ten Commandments.
Sen. Sue Peterson, R-Sioux Falls, said a similar state law requiring the display of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” in public schools has been implemented without significant problems since the law was adopted in 2019. She said the new bill could follow a similar path.
The South Dakota Board of Education Standards would oversee compliance with the bill. The legislation includes no punishment for noncompliance.
Voting yes on the bill were Sens. Peterson; Sam Marty, R-Prairie City; Lauren Nelson, R-Yankton; and Curt Voight, R-Rapid City. Voting no were Sens. Smith, Schoenfish and Stephanie Sauder, R-Bryant.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with a correction to accurately reflect which senators voted yes and no on the bill. The original story incorrectly stated the votes of Sens. Nelson and Sauder, due to an error in the reporting of the roll call vote by the Legislative Research Council.
Ten Commandments language
Sen. John Carley’s bill to require posting and teaching the Ten Commandments includes this version of the document:
(1) I AM the LORD your God, thou shalt have no other gods before me;
(2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image;
(3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain;\
(4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy;
(5) Honor thy father and mother;
(6) Thou shalt not murder;
(7) Thou shalt not commit adultery;
(8) Thou shalt not steal;
(9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor; and
(10) Thou shalt not covet.