Louisiana mandates ten commandments display in schools

Controversy over displays of the Ten Commandments on government property is nothing new, but only one case about schools has reached the Supreme Court. AP Photo/Dave Martin Louisiana is not a stranger to controversy over religion in schools. In 2023, it joined almost 20 states that require or allow officials in public schools to post the national motto, “In God We Trust.” Now, the Bayou State has become the first in the nation to require the posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms in public schools, colleges and universities. Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 71 into law on June 19, 2024, requiring officials in public schools, including colleges and universities, to post a specific version of the Ten Commandments. The text is similar to the King James translation of the Bible used in many Protestant churches. Officials must post a context statement highlighting the role of the Ten Commandments in American history and may also display the Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, a federal enactment to settle the frontier – and the earliest congressional document encouraging the creation of schools. One of the bill’s supporters, state Sen. J. Adam Bass, defended...