A fiery legal battle over whether a Louisiana law mandating displays of Ten Commandments in every public classroom will soon unfold at the Fifth Circuit Court, with arguments set for January 23. 

At issue is whether a state-mandated display of the religious text simply educates students on its “historical significance” or if it holds “public-school students captive to government-sponsored religious messages.” 

The law, signed by Governor Landry earlier this year, requires any K-12 school or university that receives public funds to display the commandments in each classroom. A legal battle was expected from day one, as the Sun has reported, as the governor expressed excitement to be sued over the new law.

Sure enough, a group of civil liberties advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, almost immediately filed a lawsuit claiming that the law is unconstitutional and could impose religious beliefs on students. 

Trump has backed Louisiana’s effort, saying in June that he supports the Ten Commandments being displayed in public and private schools and “many other places.” He said displaying them publicly may be the “first major step in the revival of religion” that is “desperately needed.

The civil liberties groups that are suing over the law argue that it will hold students as a “captive audience to this scripture” because the law makes it so there is “no way” to avoid seeing the displays.

“The First Amendment does not allow this,” a brief before the Fifth Circuit reads. “The rights to decide which religion, if any, to follow and which religious beliefs, if any, to adopt and practice are constitutionally reserved to individuals, parents, families, and faith communities — not government officials.”

As families send their children to school, they trust that the classroom will not “purposely be used to advance religious views that may conflict with the private beliefs of the student and his or her family,” the brief adds, citing Edwards v. Aguillard. Yet the Louisiana law, they argue, will impose the Ten Commandments on students for “nearly every hour” of their schooldays. 

Citing Stone v. Graham, in which the Supreme Court in 1980 struck down a similar state law in Kentucky, the brief notes posting the Ten Commandments would “induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments.” 

The state of Louisiana, represented by a religious liberty law firm called Becket, argues that the displays “simply recognize the ‘historical significance’ that the Ten Commandments have ‘as one of the foundations of our legal system.’”

“Religious symbols have been a fixture of American public life since before the Founding,” Becket notes on its website. “Over the centuries, many state and local governments have followed the Founders’ lead by including religious elements in their flags, seals, and buildings to commemorate history and culture and to acknowledge the beliefs of their citizens.” The firm notes that the Ten Commandments are evenly prominently displayed on the walls of the Supreme Court. 

“If the ACLU had its way, every trace of religion would be scrubbed from Louisiana’s public square,” a senior counsel for Becket, Joseph Davis, said. “Thankfully our Constitution says otherwise: Louisiana is allowed to acknowledge every aspect of our history and culture—including the Ten Commandments.”  

The public school Ten Commandments displays must include a “context statement explaining the history of the Commandments in American public education,” the firm notes, and schools can display them alongside other significant historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence.