(The Center Square) — Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill held a news conference Monday to discuss the U.S. Department of Justice brief on the litigation filed against the state’s Ten Commandments law.
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation are all suing the Pelican State, stating House Bill 71 is a violation of the First Amendment by mandating a particular religious document be in every class from preschool through university.
Gov. Jeff Landry feels this was an overreaction.
“Really and truly, I don’t see what the whole big fuss is about,” the first-term Republican governor said.
Murrill said not only that this law is constitutional, but that the lawsuit against it cannot hold up.
“The plaintiffs have to show that every application of this law is unconstitutional. They cannot meet that burden,” Murrill said.
Murrill says because the law has not been fully enacted and the plaintiffs couldn’t have seen the posters displayed, they cannot prove the posters would be unconstitutional.
Murrill also said despite media claims, the law is not paused or blocked. The compliance date for the law is Jan. 1, 2025, and that hasn’t been changed. The attorney general’s office is still deciding which posters they like the most before printing.
Many different options were displayed during the news conference as a way to show how it can be done constitutionally.
The law requires the poster to have a context statement. Some included MLK, Ruth Ginsburg, and other American leaders in history, all of which Murrill says express the Ten Commandments as teaching moments and in different constitutional ways without pushing the Christian religion.
Landry believes the Ten Commandments is above one religion.
“The Ten Commandments is not symbolic of any one particular religion, many religions share and recognize the Ten Commandments,” Landry said.
In response to a question about what families of other or no religions should do, Landry said they should understand this law was enacted by a Legislature the majority of Louisianans voted into office.
“I think we’ve forgotten in this country that democracy actually means majority rules,” Landry said.
