Louisiana mandates display of Ten Commandments in all public-school classrooms
- Louisiana becomes the first state to require the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.
- Critics plan to challenge the new law, arguing it could raise constitutional issues.
- The mandate signed by Gov. Jeff Landry is set to provoke debates over the separation of church and state.
Louisiana has become the first state to require the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. The law mandates a poster-size display of the commandments in all classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Civil liberties groups plan to challenge the law, arguing that it violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional. The posters must be in place by 2025 and will be paid for through donations. Similar laws have been proposed in other Republican-led states. Legal battles over displaying the Ten Commandments in public buildings are not new, with a Supreme Court ruling in 1980 declaring a similar law in Kentucky unconstitutional. Governor Jeff Landry signed the Louisiana law, emphasizing the importance of instilling a "moral code" in classrooms. The law is part of a broader conservative agenda to promote public expressions of faith.