Louisiana could soon become the only state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms in an effort that is sparking renewed debate about whether displaying them violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause. 

A bill moving through the legislature and expected to soon head to the governor’s desk would require any school that receives state funds to display the Ten Commandments “in each building it uses and classroom in each school under its jurisdiction.” The bill would also apply to public and nonpublic universities and colleges that accept state funds, as well as nonpublic K-12 schools that receive state funds. 

The Supreme Court in 1980 struck down a similar Kentucky statute requiring public schools to display the Commandments in every classroom, holding that they were “undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths.”

“If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments,” the Court noted at the time. “However desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion, it is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause.”

In recent years, the justices have signaled more openness towards a less restrictive interpretation of the Establishment Clause. 

The measure’s sponsor, state Representative Dodie Horton, has argued the bill respects the state’s religious history as the Ten Commandments are the “”basis of all laws in Louisiana.” Ms. Horton last year championed legislation to require “In God We Trust” to be displayed in classrooms across the state. 

“I’m not concerned with an atheist. I’m not concerned with a Muslim,” Ms. Horton said, according to reports in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, in response to questions about non-Christian teachers. “I’m concerned with our children looking and seeing what God’s law is.” 

The bill easily passed the Senate in a 30-8 vote on Thursday.

“The purpose is not solely religious,” state Senator Adam Bass said, arguing that it is a document of “historical significance.” 

Yet the measure is sparking concerns that it will waste state funds in defending the measure in court. “It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” state Senator Royce Duplessis said, per CBS’ New Orleans affiliate. “I think we are going to likely lose in court.”

“We’re going to spend valuable state resources defending the law when we really need to be teaching our kids how to read and write,” Mr. Duplessis said. “I don’t think this is appropriate for us to mandate.”

He added that as a practicing Catholic, he didn’t learn the Ten Commandments in school, but rather in Sunday school. “You want your kids to learn about the Ten Commandments, take them to church,” he said. 

Schools would be allowed to use public funds or donated funds for the displays, which would be required to be at least 11 inches by 14 inches and printed in large font.