Liberal civil rights groups freak out, plan lawsuits claiming law violates separation between church and state.
Louisiana passed landmark legislation Wednesday requiring posters featuring The Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms throughout the state.
Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed the law Wednesday, making Louisiana the first state to ever pass such legislation.
The law says public school classrooms and state-funded universities should provide for poster-size displays of the Commandments and three other historical documents.
“The text of the Ten Commandments shall be the central focus of the poster or framed document and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font,” the law’s text states.
“Recognizing the historical role of the Ten Commandments accords with our nation’s history and faithfully reflects the understanding of the founders of our nation with respect to the necessity of civic morality to a functional self-government.”
The law also says classrooms must feature the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Liberal civil rights group, including the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation, declared they would sue the state claiming a 40-year-old Supreme Court decision bars public schools from displaying the Commandments.
“The displays mandated by H.B. 71 will result in unconstitutional religious coercion of students, who are legally required to attend school and are thus a captive audience for school-sponsored religious messages,” the groups wrote in a joint statement.
Gov. Landry predicted blowback at a Republican fundraiser over the weekend where he revealed he planned to sign the bill, adding, “And I can’t wait to be sued.”
The in-class posters will read:
“The Ten Commandments
I AM the LORD thy God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
