NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is telling parents who don’t want the Ten Commandments hanging in classrooms to tell their children “not to look at them.”
Monday, the governor and Attorney General Liz Murrill held a news conference to discuss how the state plans to fight a legal challenge to the controversial law.
“I did not know that the Ten Commandments was such a bad way for someone to live their life,” Landry said. “Really and truly, I don’t see what the whole big fuss is about.”
State attorneys filed a brief opposing a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other civil rights groups. Murrill said the lawsuit is premature because the plaintiffs in the case, parents of public school children can’t prove any harm.
“That’s because they don’t allege that they have seen any displays yet and they certainly can’t allege that they have seen any display of the Ten Commandments that violates their constitutional rights,” Murrill said.
Murrill displayed a series of posters showing how the Ten Commandments could be displayed and incorporated into teachable moments that can pass constitutional muster. One included a quote from the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Another displayed Dr. Martin Luther King’s Ten Commandments for Non-Violence next to the ones handed down by Moses.
“Our arguments haven’t changed since the filing of our original lawsuit back on July 8,” said ACLU Louisiana Executive Director Alanah Odoms.
The ACLU argues the law violates the freedom of religion constitutionally guaranteed in the First Amendment.
“The government can’t prioritize or cannot give preference to one religion over another, and the government can’t show favor to one religion over another and that is exactly what we see here,” Odoms said.
Gov. Landry had this suggestion for parents who don’t want The Ten Commandments in their child’s classroom.
“What I would say to those parents if those posters are in the school and they find them so vulgar, tell the child not to look at them.”
The law requires all public schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments beginning in January.
A hearing on the matter is now scheduled for September in the federal court in Baton Rouge.