BATON ROUGE, La. — "We will see you in court, Governor Landry." Several civil liberties groups announced they will file a lawsuit just minutes after Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a bill requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.
"It strikes at the heart of our fundamental constitutional rights, the right to choose a faith of your own or choose no faith at all," said Alana Odoms, executive director of ACLU Louisiana. The lawsuit, set to be filed by the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, challenges the new mandate as unconstitutional.
On Wednesday, Governor Landry signed House Bill 71, which mandates that all public K-12 classrooms and state-funded universities display poster-sized versions of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” starting next year. The bill's author, State Representative Dodi Horton, supported the move, emphasizing the perceived historical significance of the Ten Commandments.
Governor Landry, anticipating legal challenges, remarked before the bill's passage, “I can’t wait to be sued.” He argued that respecting the rule of law starts from the “original lawgiver, which was Moses.”
Opponents argue that the new law violates the separation of church and state, isolating non-Christian students and breaching constitutional principles. The Ten Commandments have historically been at the center of legal disputes. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. More recently, in 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Ten Commandments displays in Kentucky courthouses were unconstitutional, but allowed a marker on the Texas state Capitol grounds.
Louisiana's law specifies that state funds will not be used for the posters, which will be financed through donations. The displays must also include a four-paragraph context statement describing the historical role of the Ten Commandments in American public education.
The controversial law, enacted in a state within the Bible Belt, reflects a shift toward conservative governance under Landry, who succeeded two-term Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards in January. With a GOP supermajority in the Legislature and Republicans holding all statewide elected positions, conservative policies are gaining traction.
The posters, required to be in place by 2025, mark Louisiana as the first state to mandate such displays in public schools. Other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah, have proposed similar mandates but have refrained from implementation due to anticipated legal challenges.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell defended the law, stating, "The Ten Commandments are pretty simple: don’t kill, steal, cheat on your wife. They are also important to our country's foundations. I look forward to defending the law."