Louisiana became the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public school classrooms after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law Wednesday.
The bill, HB 71, would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in poster-sized, “large, easily readable font” in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state universities. Landry promoted the bill at a fundraiser in Tennessee over the weekend.
“I’m going to go home and sign a bill to put the Ten Commandments in public classrooms, and I can’t wait to get sued,” he said, according to The Tennessean.
Louisiana to classify abortion pills as a controlled dangerous substance following Governor Landry’s proposal
Workers remove a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments outside West Union High School in West Union, Ohio, on June 9, 2003. (Associated Press)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana announced Wednesday it would file a lawsuit, arguing the law violates longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent and the First Amendment.
“We are preparing a lawsuit to challenge HB 71. The law violates the separation of church and state and is clearly unconstitutional,” the ACLU said in a joint statement with the American Coalition for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “The First Amendment promises us all the ability to decide for ourselves how to hold and practice our religious beliefs, if any, without government pressure. Politicians do not have the right to impose their preferred religious doctrines on public school students and families.”
The groups said the new law would send a “horrifying message” to students and families who don’t follow the state’s recommended Ten Commandments.
But Matt Kraus, general counsel for First Liberty Institute, welcomed the ruling, arguing that “the Pelican State correctly recognizes the state’s history and tradition of the Ten Commandments. Having this historic document on a school wall is a great way to remind students of the foundations of American and Louisiana law.”
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the Church and State Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that Congress “shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.” The Court found that the law served no secular purpose, but rather a clearly religious one.
Louisiana bill to castrate sex offenders moves toward governor’s signature
Workers repaint a Ten Commandments sign along Interstate 71 on Election Day, Nov. 7, 2023, near Chenoweth, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer)
Supporters of the law say it has historical significance as well as religious purposes, describing the Ten Commandments as “a foundational document of state and national government.”
The exhibits, paired with a four-paragraph “contextualization” explaining how the Ten Commandments “have been a vital part of American public education for nearly three centuries,” must be installed in classrooms by early 2025.
The posters would be paid for through donations, not state funds, and the law “permits” but does not require that the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinances be displayed in public elementary, middle, and high schools.
Click here to get the FOX News app
Other states, including Texas and Oklahoma, have proposed similar bills but have failed to pass them due to the threat of court battles over constitutional issues.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
