Louisiana became the first state to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday.
The GOP-drafted legislation would mandate that poster-sized displays of the Ten Commandments in a “large, easy-to-read font” be placed in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Though the bill has not received final approval from Landry, the time for the governor to act — either to sign or veto the bill — has expired.
Opponents have questioned the law's constitutionality, warning that it could lead to lawsuits. Supporters say the measure's purpose is not just religious, but also has historical significance. In the language of the law, the Ten Commandments are described as “the foundational document of our state and national government.”
The American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday that it is filing a lawsuit challenging Louisiana's new law along with the Americans for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“This law violates the separation of church and state and is clearly unconstitutional,” the groups said in a joint statement. “The First Amendment promises that we all have the right to decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, we want to have and practice, without government coercion. Politicians have no right to impose their preferred religious doctrines on students and families in public schools.”
In April, state Senator Royce Duplessis told CBS affiliate WWL-TV that he opposes the bill.
“That's why we have separation of church and state,” said Duplessis, a Democrat. “When we went to Sunday school, we learned the 10 Commandments. As I said in the Senate, if you want your children to learn the 10 Commandments, you can take them to church.”
These displays, paired with a four-paragraph “context statement” explaining how the Ten Commandments “were a staple of American public education for nearly three centuries,” must be installed in classrooms by early 2025.
The posters will be paid for through donations. Based on the language in the law, state funds will not be used to enforce this order.
The law also “authorizes” — but does not mandate — the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance in K-12 public schools.
State House Representative Dody Horton is the bill's author. She defended it before the House in April, saying the Ten Commandments are the basis for all laws in Louisiana, WWL-TV reported.
“I hope and I pray that Louisiana will be the first state to allow the code of ethics back into classrooms,” Horton said. “When I was in kindergarten [at a private school]It was always the writing on the wall. I learned there was a God, and I knew to respect him and his rules.”
Similar bills to require the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms have been proposed in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah. However, with threats of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, no state other than Louisiana has had success in passing the bill into law.
Legal battles over the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms are nothing new.
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar law in Kentucky was unconstitutional and violated the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause, which states that Congress “may make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The high court found that the law had no secular purpose but rather served a clearly religious purpose.
The controversial law in Louisiana, located in the Bible Belt, comes during a new era of conservative leadership in the state under Landry, who replaced two-term Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in January.
Republicans also hold a two-thirds majority in the Legislature, and every statewide elected position is held by Republicans, clearing the way for lawmakers to advance a conservative agenda during the legislative session that concluded earlier this month.