Louisiana becomes the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public classrooms

Louisiana has become the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, the latest move by the Republican Party-dominated Legislature to advance a conservative agenda under the new governor.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law Wednesday a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in poster size in “large, easy-to-read font” in all public classrooms, from preschools to state-funded universities.

Opponents questioned the constitutionality of the law and vowed to challenge it in court. Supporters said the move was not religious but had historical significance. In the language of the law, the Ten Commandments are “fundamental documents of our state and national government.”

The posters, which will be paired with a four-paragraph “contextual statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “have been a staple of American public education for nearly three centuries,” are scheduled to go up in classrooms in early 2025.

By law, state resources will not be used to implement the mandate. Posters are paid for by donations.

The law “recognizes” but does not require other materials to be displayed in K-12 public schools, including: The Mayflower Compact, signed by religious pilgrims on the Mayflower in 1620 and often called America’s “first Constitution.” ; Declaration of Independence; and the Northwest Ordinance, which established a government in the Northwest Territory – today’s Midwest – and paved the way for the admission of new states into the Union.

Civil rights groups and organizations want to keep religion out of government after the governor signed it Wednesday at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette. He promised to file a case. To challenge.

The law prevents students from receiving an equal education and makes children of different faiths feel safer at school, the American Civil Liberties Union, American United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation said in a joint statement Wednesday. Afternoon.

“The law violates the separation of church and state and is plainly unconstitutional,” the groups said in a joint statement. “The First Amendment guarantees that we are all free to decide for ourselves what, if any, religious beliefs we wish to hold and practice, without government pressure. Politicians cannot impose their preferred religious doctrine on students and families who attend public schools.”

State Senator Royce Duplessis told CBS affiliate WWL-TV in April that he opposed the bill.

“That’s why we separate church and state,” said Duplessis, a Democrat. “We learned the 10 Commandments when we went to Sunday school. As I said in the Senate, if your children want to learn the Ten Commandments, you can take them to church.”

The controversial legislation, tucked into the Bible Belt, ushers in a new era of conservative leadership in Louisiana under Landry, who replaced two-term Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in January. The Republican Party has a majority in the legislature, and Republicans hold every statewide elected office, paving the way for a conservative agenda for lawmakers.

State House Representative Todd Horton wrote the bill. In April, he defended it before the House of Representatives, saying the Ten Commandments are the basis for all laws in Louisiana, WWL-TV reported.

“I hope and pray that Louisiana will be the first state to allow moral codes to be reinstated in classrooms,” Horton said. “Since I was in kindergarten (at a private school), it was always hanging on the wall. I learned that God exists and knows how to respect Him and His laws.

Similar bills have been introduced in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah, to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms. However, due to the threat of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, no state except Louisiana was able to pass the bills.

Legal battles over displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms are not new.

In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that Congress “shall make no law relating to the establishment of religion.” The Supreme Court ruled that the law had no secular purpose but served a religious purpose.