If signed into law, the bill would also apply to all state colleges and universities. On May 16, the state’s senate advanced HB 71, which requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed on a poster or framed document that is no smaller than 11 inches by 14 inches. The proposed law stipulates that the Ten Commandments must be the “central focus” of the document, printed in a “large, easily readable font.” The bill passed the Louisiana House in April. Last week, the state senate approved the legislation after it went through several amendments aimed at helping it weather legal challenges. Some supporters of the bill say the necessity to pass it is based more around history rather than religion. “The purpose is not solely religious,” Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, told the Senate. It is the Ten Commandments' "historical significance, which is simply one of many documents that display the history of our country and foundation of our legal system.” Opponents have criticized the bill, along with its author Rep. Dodie Horton, arguing that it violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, which bars government from establishing a religion. “I didn’t have to learn the Ten Commandments in school. We went to Sunday school,” Sen. Royce Duplessis told his colleagues speaking out against the proposed legislation. “You want your kids to learn about the Ten Commandments, take them to church." He also warned that the state could end up facing expensive legal challenges if the bill is signed into law. “We’re going to spend valuable state resources defending the law when we really need to be teaching our kids how to read and write. I don’t think this is appropriate for us to mandate,” said Duplessis. Similar efforts in other states have faced fierce opposition for decades, with numerous lawsuits being filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The organization has pledged to challenge this most recent law as well. “This bill is unconstitutional,” said a joint statement Friday by the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Our public schools are not Sunday schools,” the statement added, “and students of all faiths — or no faith — should feel welcome in them.”Louisiana could be the first state in the U.S. to require the display of the Biblical Ten Commandments at all schools that receive public funding.
