Governor Jeff Landry and First Lady Sharon Landry. June 19, 2024.
Louisiana’s law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in public classrooms is receiving national attention and groups like the ACLU say they plan to fight it in court. Author of the legislation, Haughton Representative Dodie Horton believes it will withstand the challenge.
“I’m not really worried about them, we have a great Attorney General who stands firmly behind this bill, and the way it was written and feels very confident it will stand the test,” said Horton.
Alanah Odoms with the ACLU of Louisiana said the law clearly violates the First Amendment and the law calls for a government-mandated version of the Ten Commandments.
“So that means various different faiths, who potentially may believe in the Ten Commandments, just may not follow the specific version mandated by the governor, would also be certainly deeply offended by this,” said Odoms.
Horton expects the legal challenge will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and she along with the governor are confident with the current conservative majority of justices the law will be upheld. But in the meantime…
“We’re going forward until it’s proven to be unconstitutional, we’re going that it is. And we’ll start posting, getting donations for posters, and putting them up in schools,” said Horton.
Public schools, including colleges and universities that receive state funding, are required to post the Ten Commandments in the classroom no later than January 1, 2025.
Horton believes once the case is settled that other states will follow Louisiana’s lead on the matter.
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