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Louisiana has become the first state to require God’s Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday.
The GOP-drafted legislation requires a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable type” in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Although the bill did not receive Landry’s final approval, the time for gubernatorial action — to sign or veto the bill — has expired.
Opponents have questioned the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits are likely to follow. Supporters say the measure’s purpose is not just religious, but has historical significance. In the language of the law, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.”
The displays, which will be paired with a four-paragraph “contextual statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “have been an important part of American public education for nearly three centuries,” are to be in classrooms by early 2025.
Posters will be paid for by donations. State funds will not be used to fulfill the mandate based on the wording of the legislation.
The law also “authorizes”—but does not require—the display of the Mayflower Treaty, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance in K-12 public schools.
Similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms have been proposed in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, with the threat of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, no state other than Louisiana has been successful in passing the bills into law.
Legal battles over displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms are not new.
In 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the US Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which states that Congress may not “make any law respecting an establishment of religion.” The Supreme Court found that the law had no secular purpose but rather served a purely religious purpose.
Louisiana’s controversial Bible Belt law comes amid a new era of conservative leadership in the state under Landry, who replaced two-term Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in January.
The GOP also holds a two-thirds majority in the state legislature, and Republicans hold all statewide elected positions, paving the way for lawmakers to push a conservative agenda during the legislative session that ended earlier this month.
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