The ACLU of Louisiana’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new state law that requires a display of the Ten Commandments be posted in all public school classrooms should be dismissed, the state’s attorney general argues in a federal court motion.
Attorney General Liz Murrill said in the Aug. 5 motion filed in the Middle District of Louisiana that no Ten Commandments posters have as yet been put up in classrooms. And the argument that the implementation of House Bill 71 violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights is speculative at best, according to the motion.
“No one knows how any given school or official – including defendants – will implement H.B. 71, what any given H.B. 71 display will look like or whether any given H.B. 71 display will pose a potential constitutional issue,” the motion states.
Because schools will have a certain leeway to present the Ten Commandments within a historical context, the request for an injunction by the plaintiffs in the ACLU of Louisiana’s lawsuit is not “ripe” for litigation over specific constitutional violations, the attorney general’s motion says.
The text of the new law calls on schools to display the Ten Commandments with a historical context statement spelled out in HB 71, beginning with how the Ten Commandments were used in education in the year 1688. In addition, the commandments have to be displayed on a poster or framed presentation that is 11 inches by 14 inches in size, or bigger, the law says.
“Our brief illustrates just a few of the countless ways in which schools may constitutionally implement H.B. 71,” Murrill said in a prepared statement. “Because the ACLU cannot carry their burden to show that the Ten Commandments law is unconstitutional in all its applications, this lawsuit must be dismissed. I am proud to defend the law, and I very much look forward to seeing the ACLU in court.”
In its motion, the Attorney General’s Office also provided examples of what a school poster might look like under the provisions of HB 71. These include placing the Ten Commandments in the context of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bater Ginsburg’s description of foundational historical documents and an entertainment-themed poster presenting actor Charlton Heston’s portrayal of Moses in film “The Ten Commandments” beside Lin-Manuel Miranda’s image, which is above the “10 Duel Commandments” in the musical “Hamilton.”
The ACLU of Louisiana has stressed that the state’s version of the Ten Commandments tends to reflect protestant beliefs rather than religious directives in Jewish and Catholic traditions.
“Subjecting every public-school student to the state's version of the Ten Commandments, regardless of their personal faith and upbringing, is unconstitutional,” the ACLU of Louisiana's executive director, Alanah Odoms, said in an email to the Louisiana Record. “We are committed to ensuring all students have a welcoming and inclusive learning environment, and we eagerly look forward to our day in court."
Federal Judge John deGravelles has previously indicated that the parties in the litigation have agreed that no Ten Commandments posters would be placed in classrooms prior to Nov. 15. This will give the court time to review documents filed in the case.
Murrill argues that the plaintiffs will not be able to overcome precedents in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court to show that every HB 71 display that schools decide on would be unconstitutional..