Louisiana requires Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public classroom
A law signed by Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday makes the state the only one with such a mandate. Critics have vowed to mount a constitutional challenge.
Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation on Wednesday requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in Louisiana, making the state the only one with such a mandate and reigniting the debate over how porous the boundary between church and state should be.
Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, vowed a legal fight against the law they deemed “blatantly unconstitutional.” But it is a battle that proponents are prepared, and in many ways, eager, to take on.
“I can’t wait to be sued,” Landry said Saturday at a Republican fundraiser in Nashville, Tennessee, according to The Tennessean. And on Wednesday, as he signed the measure, he argued that the Ten Commandments contained valuable lessons for students.
“If you want to respect the rule of law,” he said, “you’ve got to start from the original law giver, which was Moses.”
The legislation is part of a broader campaign by conservative Christian groups to amplify public expressions of faith, and provoke lawsuits that could reach the Supreme Court, where they expect a friendlier reception than in years past.
“The climate is certainly better,” said Charles C. Haynes, a senior fellow at the Freedom Forum and a scholar with an expertise in religious liberty and civil discourse, referring to the viewpoint of those who support the legislation.
Still, Haynes said that he found the enthusiasm behind the Louisiana law and other efforts unwarranted. “I think they are overreaching,” he said, adding that “even this court will have a hard time justifying” what lawmakers have conceived.
The measure in Louisiana requires that the commandments be displayed in each classroom of every public elementary, middle and high school, as well as public college classrooms. The posters must be no smaller than 11 by 14 inches and the commandments must be “the central focus of the poster” and “in a large, easily readable font.”
Critics said the legislation was a clear constitutional violation. In a joint statement, groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Center argued that the law “violates students’ and families’ fundamental right to religious freedom.”
“Our public schools are not Sunday schools,” the statement said, “and students of all faiths, or no faith, should feel welcome in them.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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