BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) -- The first month of 2025 will bring a hotly debated law back into the spotlight: the Ten Commandments law signed by Gov. Jeff Landry in June. The law requires Louisiana public schools to display the Ten Commandments in all classrooms by New Year's Day.
Civil liberties groups challenging the law in court warn posting the commandments by that timeline could lead to even more lawsuits. The law takes effect Jan. 1, after being delayed since its original start date in November due to lawsuits challenging its constutuionality.
The civil rights groups began the lawsuit on behalf of five Louisiana school districts, East Baton Rouge Parish, Vernon Parish, Livingston Parish, Orleans Parish and St. Tammany Parish.
They say no schools should post the commandments until after this all plays out in the legal system. The groups even sent out a letter last week to all school superintendents urging them not to implement the law.
Alex Luchenister is the associate vice president and legal director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which is one of the civil liberties groups challenging the law in court.
"It's very clear from the court's decisions that the law violated the U.S. Constitution, the separation of church and state, the freedom of religion, and no school district should implement this law," Luchenitser said.
He explains a federal district court ruled the law unconstitutional in November. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill took the decision to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The next hearing in the appeals court is scheduled for Jan. 23. That's three weeks after Jan. 1, when the law requires schools to put up the commandments, putting school districts themselves in the middle of a legal tug-of-war.
Murrill argues the lawsuit only applies to the five school districts that are defendants in the lawsuit. According to Murrill, the nearly 60 other parishes are still required to have the commandments up by Jan. 1.
"Until this case is completely decided, school districts should hold off on any attempt to implement this law because otherwise, they will be risking being sued and being liable for attorneys fees or damages," Luchenitser said. "So it really makes no sense for school districts to take this type of risk."
Read the letter in full below.
