Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) knocked concerns over Louisiana ’s new Ten Commandments law as the state moves to dismiss a legal challenge against the controversial measure.
During a press conference Monday, Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Louisiana would seek to deny a challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups to a law requiring public classrooms to display the Ten Commandments .
“Really and truly, I don’t see what the whole big fuss is about,” Landry told reporters as he mentioned the “sheer bipartisan support” for the bill that passed “by the will of the people.”
When asked how parents offended by the religious document should deal with the law, Landry replied, “Tell your child not to look at them.”
Louisiana is waiting to implement the law until the legal battles are resolved. Landry signed the bill in June that mandated all classrooms from kindergarten to state-funded universities to display the biblical text starting in 2025.
The ACLU was quick to lead civil rights groups in bringing a lawsuit against the law, arguing that it violated “the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional.”
“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,” the ACLU said in a statement. “Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools.”
Murrill said on Monday the lawsuit was “premature” because the Ten Commandments are not yet displayed in classrooms.
“Because this lawsuit is all based on hypothetical fact, the court can’t decide the case yet, so we’ve asked the court to dismiss the case on that basis,” Murrill said as she announced the state had filed a brief to defend the constitutionality of the law.
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The state maintains that the Ten Commandments are “foundational documents of our state and national government.” The law calls for the Ten Commandments to be displayed with a “context statement” describing how they “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.”
While speaking to members of the press on Monday, Landry reiterated his conviction that the biblical text was linked to the country’s foundation, referencing American founding father John Adams. The Republican governor noted that the country’s second president said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people and is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
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