Mississippi Bill Forcing Teachers to Recite the Ten Commandments Daily Is Dead

By Hemant Mehta

Well, that didn’t take long.

A Mississippi Democrat’s bill to force teachers to recite the Ten Commandments at the beginning of every school day is dead, a mere 15 days after being introduced.

House Bill 1100, sponsored by State Rep. Credell Calhoun, would have amended the law by requiring a moment of silence at the beginning of every school day (rather than keeping it optional), requiring a copy of the Ten Commandments to go up in every classroom (in addition to the already-required “In God We Trust” signs), and requiring teachers to say the Ten Commandments (unless they opted out of it).

I have no idea why Calhoun thought kindergartners needed a daily reminder not to commit adultery, but nothing in the bill was useful or constitutional. Had it passed, it would likely have been the subject of lawsuits from various church/state separation groups.

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