Louisiana asks judge to toss lawsuit against Ten Commandments law

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said Monday she will ask a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit parents have brought to stop a new state law that requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom. (Piper Hutchinson | Louisiana Illuminator)

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said Monday she will ask a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit parents have brought to stop a new state law that requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom.

Murrill is expected to file a brief arguing the lawsuit is premature, as schools are not yet displaying the religious text. She argues that means the plaintiffs cannot yet show they are harmed.

According to Article III of the U.S. Constitution, to bring a federal lawsuit, a plaintiff does not have to prove that they have been harmed if they can prove that harm is imminent .

The plaintiffs in the case, who are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and non-religious, assert the new law will violate their First Amendment rights.

“Permanently posting the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana public-school classroom – rendering them unavoidable – unconstitutionally pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture,” their lawsuit reads.

The law, which the Legislature approved earlier this year and  Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law, requires a specific version of the Ten Commandments, one that’s popular among evangelical denominations, be posted prominently in every public K-12, college and university classroom.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a similar law in Kentucky in 1980.

Along the way, Republicans have argued they want the scripture in classrooms not for religious reasons but because they believe American law is based on the Ten Commandments, referring to Moses as the “original lawmaker.”

The Ten Commandments are religious directives in the Bible’s Old Testament from the book of Exodus. Scholars disagree about when the commandments were written and by whom. Various versions of the text appear in different translations of the Bible and the Torah.

The rules come from the story of the Hebrew prophet Moses, a key figure in the Abrahamic religions who was said to have been given them by God after he led the Israelites, a religious and ethnic minority, from enslavement under an oppressive Egyptian pharaoh.

When asked about the impacts of the law on members of religious minorities, Landry advised students not to look at the poster.

“I think we’ve forgotten in this country that democracy actually means majority rule,” Landry said.

Murrill revealed posters at Monday’s press conference that she believes comply with the new law and pass constitutional muster.

One such poster displayed the Ten Commandments and an image of actor Charles Heston portraying Moses in the movie “The Ten Commandments” alongside a picture of Broadway actor/writer Lin-Manuel Miranda playing Alexander Hamilton in the hit musical “Hamilton,” over lyrics from a song in the musical, “The Ten Duel Commandments.”

The song, which is sung right before Hamilton is shot and killed by Vice President Aaron Burr in the musical, gives advice for partaking in a flintlock pistol duel. The lyrics seem to violate one of the Biblical Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill.”

Others posters feature pictures and quotes from figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. Others depict memes and other references to the Ten Commandments in law, government and culture.

Murrill noted her office is handling the litigation internally and is not paying an outside law firm to represent the state.

Both Murrill and Landry have expressed that the displays could improve discipline in schools.

Landry made headlines last month when he suggested that if the Ten Commandments were displayed in Thomas Crooks’ classroom, he may not have attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one attendee and seriously injuring two others. Secret Service agents returned fire, killing Crooks.

Louisiana schools, except for those in a handful of districts where the law is temporarily blocked, have until Jan. 1, 2025, to post the Ten Commandments displays.

This story was originally produced by the Louisiana Illuminator which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.