Gov. Jeff Landry said he plans to sign into law a controversial bill requiring public schools and colleges in Louisiana to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms and that he welcomes challenges to the law in court.
During his keynote speech on Saturday at a Republican fundraiser in Tennessee, Landry touted the bill as a conservative victory in the ongoing culture wars.
“I’m going home to sign a bill that places the Ten Commandments in public classrooms,” he said, according to a report in the Tennessean. “And I can’t wait to be sued.”
Landry, a Republican, was the state’s attorney general before becoming governor. If he signs the bill, Louisiana will become the only state mandating that all public universities and K-12 schools display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a move that will almost certainly draw legal challenges.
Landry’s staunch support for House Bill 71 comes after free-speech groups condemned it as an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. The Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit that opposes religious influences on public policy, called the bill “unlawful” in a June 14 letter to Landry.
“It is meant to impose Christianity on all students in Louisiana’s public schools, even if they belong to a minority religion or no religion at all,” wrote Azhar Majeed, the group’s director of government affairs.
Critics say the bill violates the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from “establishing” a religion. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Groups that promote the separation of church and state argue that Louisiana's law would be equally unconstitutional.
Some religious leaders have also opposed the mandate. More than 100 Christian pastors and churchgoers in Louisiana signing a petition last month urging Landry to veto the bill. They argued that families and faith groups should control religious education — not the government. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, which advocates for the separation of church and state, also called on Landry to veto the legislation, arguing that it “disrespects religious diversity.”
“Signing HB71 into law will invite legal challenges and force Louisiana taxpayers to defend a dubious endeavor that is harmful to religious freedom,” wrote Holly Hollman, general counsel for the group, which has also filed legal briefs arguing that public school employees should not lead students in prayer and the government should not fund religious schools.
State Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, sponsored the legislation. She argued the law is constitutional, pointing to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a public school football coach’s right to pray on the field.
She added that her bill is not meant to indoctrinate children, but to give them “guidelines.”
“It doesn't preach a certain religion, but it does teach a standard,” she said, adding that the Ten Commandments offer a moral code that God “holds us accountable to live by.”
The bill, which the state Senate passed by a vote of 30-8 last month after it passed in the House, requires public schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms by Jan. 1. The displays must measure at least 11 by 14 inches and feature “large, easily readable font.”
The legislation also dictates the exact wording that must be displayed. One portion reads: “I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Another says: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.”
It isn't clear how lawmakers decided which text to mandate. The petition calling on Landry to veto the legislation said different faith traditions translate and interpret the Ten Commandments differently. It called the text in the bill “a hodgepodge of holy scripture,” and said the government “has no business choosing an official version of the Ten Commandments.”
Rev. Jon Parks, senior co-pastor at University Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, said that displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools will cause some students to feel excluded.
“To me that is a clear case of the government saying this religion is more important than the others,” said Parks, who signed the petition. “There are places where the Ten Commandments belong — and the classroom is not it.”
The final version of the bill includes several amendments meant to head off potential legal challenges. Schools must post a “context statement” alongside the Biblical text that says the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.” Schools “may” also display other historical texts, such as the Declaration of Independence.
Proponents of the bill say the Ten Commandments belong in public schools because of its historical significance.
“The Ten Commandments provide the foundation for modern-day law in America,” said Gene Mills, president of the Louisiana Family Forum, a conservative advocacy group. He added the bill’s amendments will be useful “if it's going to survive a constitutional challenge.”
