Louisiana has become the first state in the United States to requires that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classroomsunder a law signed into law Wednesday by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry.
The law, written by Republican lawmakers, requires that in all public school classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded colleges, The Ten Commandments are displayed in poster size and in “large, easily legible print.”
Opponents of the law question its constitutionality and warn that lawsuits are likely. Those who defend it affirm that the purpose of the measure is not only religious, but has historical significance. In the text of the law, the Ten Commandments are described as “founding documents of our state and national government.”
The posters, which will be accompanied by a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for nearly three centuries,” They should be placed in classrooms by early 2025.
The posters would be paid for through donations. According to the text of the law, no state funds will be used to implement the mandate.
The law also “authorizes” —but does not require—the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance in elementary through high school public schools.
Shortly after the governor signed the law, civil rights groups and organizations that want to keep religion out of government vowed to file a lawsuit challenging it.
The law prevents students from receiving an equal education and will prevent children with different beliefs from feeling safe in school, the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
“Even among those who may believe in some version of the Ten Commandments, the specific text to which they adhere may differ depending on the religious denomination or tradition. “The government should not take sides in this theological debate,” the groups stated.
Similar bills requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms have been proposed in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, with threats of litigation over the constitutionality of such measures, no state other than Louisiana has managed to get them signed into law.
