Louisiana is first US state to require Ten Commandments displayed in classrooms
- Opponents questioned the law’s constitutionality and vowed to challenge it in court
The governor of Louisiana signed a bill Wednesday requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom in the conservative US state, reigniting the debate over separation of church and state.
The legislation, the first of its kind in the nation, mandates that the biblical text be on display starting in 2025 in all public school classrooms from kindergarten through state-funded universities.
“If you want to respect the rule of law, you gotta start from the original law given – which was Moses,” Jeff Landry, Republican governor of the southern state, said at the bill’s signing ceremony.
The law requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed as a poster or framed document “and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font,” the bill’s text reads.
The posters are to be financed by donations and state funds will not to be used.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) responded to the legislation by indicating it would take the case to court.