Louisiana issues guidance as law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms goes into effect

by Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator
January 3, 2025

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued guidance Friday to public K-12 schools, colleges and universities on how to comply with a new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms. 

The law is currently blocked in five K-12 school districts as a lawsuit challenging the its constitutionality plays out. The law, originally House Bill 71 by Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, took effect Jan. 1. 

“As I have repeatedly said, H.B. 71 is plainly constitutional because there are constitutionally sound ways to implement it,” Murrill said in a news release. 

Murrill’s guidance calls on schools to post one of four posters she selected in each classroom. She advised they should not be posted behind teachers’ desks or podiums to avoid the impression the displays are attributable to individual instructors. 

The posters should be between 11 inches by 14 inches, the minimum size, and 18 inches by 24 inches, to ensure readability, Murrill advised. The posters should only be put up if they are donated or privately funded, the attorney general’s guidance continues. 

She also recommends the Ten Commandments poster be displayed among other educational displays, including those recommended in the legislation. They include the text of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance, which established laws in the U.S. territory in the late 18th century. 

The new law does not include any punishment for not posting the display in classrooms. 

A federal judge is expected to hear arguments later this month in the lawsuit from nine parents of Louisiana students who insist the new law violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against state-sponsored religion.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

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