NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana has recently passed a bill that mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in every classroom of public schools and colleges, making it the only state with this requirement. This has reignited the ongoing discussion about the place of religion in government institutions.
According to the new law, all public K-12 classrooms and state-funded universities in Louisiana will need to have a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in a large, easily readable font starting next year.
Civil liberties groups are planning to file lawsuits against the law signed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, arguing that it violates protections against government-established religion. Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, stated, “We’re going to be seeing Gov. Landry in court.”
State officials are emphasizing the historical significance of the Ten Commandments, referring to them as “foundational documents of our state and national government.”
Similar bills requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms have been introduced in other states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah.
Reasonable and needed or unconstitutional and harmful?
At Archbishop Shaw High School, a Catholic-run school in suburban New Orleans, the school’s head, the Rev. Steve Ryan, expressed his support for the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. “These laws, which are part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, are good safeguards for society. They are actually reasonable,” Ryan commented.
In Baton Rouge, Attorney General Liz Murrill, an ally of Gov. Landry, expressed her readiness to defend the law, stating, “The 10 Commandments are pretty simple (don’t kill, steal, cheat on your wife), but they also are important to our country’s foundations.”
Opponents of the law argue that breaking down the constitutional separation between religion and government is unjust and illegal. Laser noted concerns about how this could affect students from various religious and non-religious backgrounds, making them feel like outsiders in the classroom.
Louisiana’s 2020 teacher of the year, Chris Dier, echoed these concerns, stating that he refuses to display the Ten Commandments in his classroom, citing concerns about constitutionality and harm to students.
The legality of consequences for non-compliance with the mandate remains unclear.
The law was endorsed by former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was removed from office in 2003 due to his refusal to remove a Ten Commandments display from the state court building.
Representatives of the Islamic Society of North America and the Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed apprehension about the law, questioning the intent behind the display and its potential impact on students of different faiths.
Earlier Ten Commandments controversies
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, as it served a primarily religious rather than secular purpose.
Recent rulings by the Supreme Court on Ten Commandments displays have yielded mixed outcomes, with some displays being found unconstitutional while others were upheld on different grounds.
Not only will the debates over the mandated display of the Ten Commandments revolve around the requirement itself, but also the specific version of the commandments to be displayed.
Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writers Stephen Smith in New Orleans; Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Mark Sherman in Washington; Holly Meyer in Nashville, Tennessee; Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi; and Peter Smith in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
