Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry took a bold step for faith and said he “can’t wait” for the lawsuits that are likely to follow.
The Republican leader followed through on a promise and signed legislation this week requiring every public school classroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments, making Louisiana the first state in the nation to do so.
Landry spoke of his plans with about 1,200 of the GOP’s top brass at the 47th annual Tennessee Republican Statesmen’s Dinner. last weekend where he was the keynote speaker.
“I’m going home to sign a bill that places the Ten Commandments in public classrooms,” he said. “And I can’t wait to be sued.”
“If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses,” the governor said Wednesday when he signed the bill into law.
H.B. 71 requires a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” to be on display in public classrooms from kindergartens to state-funded universities.
Civil rights groups immediately acted with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wasting no time and announcing an impending lawsuit on Wednesday.
“We are preparing a lawsuit to challenge H.B. 71. The law violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional,” read a joint statement from the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. “The First Amendment promises that we all get to decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice, without pressure from the government. Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools.”
Along with @ACLUofLouisiana, @americansunited and @FFRF, we’ll fight with everything we have to stop this blatantly unconstitutional law.
— ACLU (@ACLU) June 19, 2024
Landry’s move evidently poked the devil as the co-founder of the Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves, called the law “completely unnecessary, unconstitutional bill devoid of any credible state interest.”
California’s Democrat governor took an insulting jab at Landry, saying, “Louisiana has the worst crime rate in the nation – but this is their priority.”
Louisiana has the worst crime rate in the nation — but this is their priority. https://t.co/7IDD3Djyvw
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 19, 2024
Landry fired back at his Democrat counterpart on X.
“Unlike Gavin’s liberal hug-a-thug policies, we held a crime special session in just my first two months in office. And, maybe Gavin is unaware that the Lord says thou shall not kill, steal, or rape! By the way, the only reason California is not the worst is they quit reporting,” he wrote.
Many others, however, lauded the governor’s move, including First Liberty Attorney Matt Krause.
“The Pelican State has rightly recognized the history and tradition of the Ten Commandments in the state. Putting this historic document on schoolhouse walls is a great way to remind students of the foundations of American and Louisiana law,” he said.
The law “authorizes” the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance, though they are not required.
Supporters contend the law is not based only on religion but on the significance of the Ten Commandments in history as they are described in the legislation as “foundational documents of our state and national government.”
The Ten Commandments posters will have to be displayed in classrooms by 2025 and will include a “context statement” describing how they “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.”
