On June 20, people could see copies of the Ten Commandments and other historical documents in the hallways of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta. Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit on June 24 challenging Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.
John Bazemore/AP
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John Bazemore/AP
BATON ROUGE, La. — While legal challenges have mounted against a new Louisiana law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, details on how the order will be implemented and enforced remain unclear.
There have been pushbacks from conservatives across the country to include religion in classrooms, from Florida legislation allowing school districts to have volunteer chaplains to counsel students to Oklahoma’s top education official ordering public schools to include the Bible in the curriculum.
In Louisiana, the logistics of the new law remain unclear.
Unless a court halts the legislation, schools have just over five months before they will be required to display poster-sized copies of the Ten Commandments in all public school K-12 and state-funded college classrooms. But it’s unclear whether the new law has any power to enforce the requirement and punish those who refuse to comply.
Supporters of the law say donations will pay for the thousands of posters needed, while critics say the law is an unfunded mandate that could burden schools. Teachers in some schools said they might not hang the posters, including in the blue city of New Orleans, where residents and officials have a history of resisting conservative policies.
Funding needs
There are more than 1,300 public schools in Louisiana. LSU has nearly 1,000 classrooms on its main campus in Baton Rouge alone and seven other campuses across the state. This means thousands of posters will be needed to meet the requirements of the new law.
The new law requires the Louisiana Department of Education to identify and post on its website resources that provide free posters.
Lawmakers supporting the bill said during a debate in May that money for the posters or printing them could be donated to schools in this state deep in the Bible Belt. Praise for the law from conservative groups and figures across the country, including most recently former President Donald Trump, could bring outside financial support for the mandate.
The Christian conservative group Louisiana Family Forum has created a donation page on its website “that will be used specifically to produce and distribute ‘Ten Commandments’ displays to educational institutions throughout Louisiana.”
But the question of what happens if schools don’t receive enough donations has been lingering for months and remains unclear.
“So the school has the ability to raise money, or they (posters) can be donated. But what if you can’t raise money or find a donor?” said state Sen. Royce DuPlessis, who voted against the law. Royce Duplessis asked during a legislative debate last month.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next,” said Republican state Sen. Adam Bass, a co-author of the bill.
The AP contacted several of the bill’s co-authors, including Bass and Attorney General Liz Muriel’s offices, Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, but was not reached for comment. To fund the answers to the questions below.
Lawmakers supporting the bill were adamant during the debate that the law clearly stated that donations would be used to obtain the posters. Others believe the law’s wording may still allow for the purchase of displays with public funds.
“Louisiana law does not appear to prohibit the use of public funds to pay for Ten Commandments displays. This use of taxpayer dollars only exacerbates this egregious violation of the Constitution,” said Ray Ray, president and CEO of the American Federation for Separation of Churches. Rachel Laser said.
The law states that public school governing bodies “shall not be required to spend funds to purchase displays.” Instead, “in order to fund monitors free of charge, school public administrations should” accept donated funds to purchase monitors or accept donated monitors.
Opponents say even with enough donations, the state is still spending money and resources defending a lawsuit over a requirement they say is unconstitutional.
But supporters say it’s a fight they’re willing to fight.
Enforcement of new laws
Chris Dier, Louisiana’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, said he doesn’t plan to post the Ten Commandments in his classroom.
“I don’t believe in doing things that are unconstitutional and harmful to students,” said Dyer, who teaches at a New Orleans high school.
It’s unclear whether there will be penalties for failing to comply, as there are no consequences listed in the law. While the law requires the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt “rules and regulations” to ensure the “proper implementation” of that mandate, enforcement may rest with a parochial school board or local school district.
A similar law passed last year requires “In God We Trust” displays in classrooms. Enforcement and penalties for noncompliance with the law are determined by local education agencies, said Kevin Calbert, spokesman for the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The AP emailed 55 parish school board members across the state, including rural and urban parishes in Republican-dominated and Democratic-leaning districts, asking if they supported the law and how they planned to enforce it. Two of them responded that they supported the mandate.
Orleans Parish School Board Vice Chairman Carlos Luis Zervigon took a different view, calling it a “blatant violation of the Constitution.”
“I don’t hear anyone talking about or being interested in considering enforcing this,” the former history teacher said. “My instinct is to do nothing unless forced to do so.”
Zevigon said his board has not yet discussed the request, with many school boards meeting less frequently over the summer due to school closures. However, if he is tasked with figuring out the implementation and enforcement of the order, he may adopt a “wait-and-see approach” until the court rules.
“I could see myself working on a resolution to the effect of, ‘We’re not going to enforce this resolution until we know legally whether this is constitutional,'” he said.
However, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry “could retaliate” if New Orleans takes the lead, Zewigan said.
Landry, a Republican, has sought to punish the city of New Orleans in the past after city officials expressed opposition to enforcing Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban.
