Louisiana parents sue over placing Ten Commandments in schools

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Nine Louisiana families filed a federal lawsuit Monday against their state's education department and their local school boards challenging the constitutionality of a radical new law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms. The lawsuit was unveiled less than a week after Louisiana's Gov. Jeff Landry put pen to paper and made his state the first in the country to require all public schools to display the Christian commandments in classrooms since the Supreme Court declared such a requirement unconstitutional more than 40 years ago. The families, who are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious, alleged in court papers filed in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Louisiana, that the new law “substantially interferes with and burdens” the parents’ First Amendment right to raise their kids in whatever religion they want. Also, the new law, "pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture," the complaint states. "It also sends the harmful and religiously divisive message that students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments ... do not belong in their own school community and should refrain from expressing any faith practices or beliefs that are not aligned with the state’s religious preferences.” Two of the plaintiffs are members of the clergy: Unitarian Universalist minister, Rev. Darcy Roake, and Rev. Jeff Simms, a Presbyterian. “By favoring one version of the Ten Commandments and mandating that it be posted in public schools, the government is intruding on deeply personal matters of religion," Simms said at a news conference. "This is religious favoritism that runs counter to my religion and faith." Roake, whose husband is Jewish, said during a news conference that they are raising their children in both faiths and enrolled them in New Orleans public schools seeking "a secular education that does not promote any particular religion." Joshua Herlands said he was appalled as "an American and a Jew" that "state lawmakers are forcing public schools to post a specific version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom." "These displays distort the Jewish significance of the Ten Commandments and send the troubling message to students that one set of religious laws is favored over all others," Herlands said. "Politicians have no business foisting their religious beliefs on my kids." The parents are backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. They are being represented pro bono by the Simpson Thacher & Bartlett law firm. Attorney Jonathan Youngwood said the case has already been assigned to a federal judge in Baton Rouge and they are seeking a hearing this summer "so this law can never be implemented." NBC News has reached out to the Louisiana governor's office for comment. Landry, a conservative Republican, said at the bill signing ceremony Wednesday that the state would fight off any legal challenges. “If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses,” Landry declared. Landry also has the backing of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who wrote on his social media platform Friday that the entire country should follow Louisiana’s lead in allowing the Ten Commandments in public schools. In the coming days, Landry is also expected to sign into law a bill prohibiting teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation from kindergarten to 12th grade. It's modeled on a Florida law that critics have derided as a “Don’t Say Gay" law. Both Louisiana bills were pushed forward by State Rep. Dodie Horton, a Republican from mostly rural Haughton, Louisiana. NBC News has reached out to Horton for comment about the lawsuit. Horton has made no apologies for pushing religion, specifically Christianity, into public schools. “I’m not concerned with an atheist. I’m not concerned with a Muslim,” Horton, who is a Southern Baptist, said during a House debate in April. “I’m concerned with our children looking and seeing what God’s law is.” James Carville, a Democratic strategist whose family roots run deep in Cajun country, described Horton in a recent interview with NBC as a “foot soldier for Christian nationalists.” “This is a group of people who believe the Constitution was written for and by Christians and that the First Amendment only applies to Christians,” said Carville. Carville said he believes this is about more than just the Ten Commandments. “This is the opening salvo of what’s likely to be a long, drawn-out war that could end up in the Supreme Court.” While the Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional, the current panel has six conservative judges and three liberal judges. “They think they have a better shot with this court,” Carville said. Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, agreed. “Not just in Louisiana, but all across the country, Christian Nationalists are seeking to infiltrate our public schools and force everyone to live by their beliefs,” Laser said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed. William Snowden, an assistant professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, said that Landry suggesting last week that he’s anticipating being sued shows “an awareness of the legal complications of such a bill.” But, Snowden said, he’s not convinced the governor can make the argument that this law is beneficial for all Louisiana residents, no matter their religious background. “This strategically tries to position an argument over whether or not the Ten Commandments, or Christian beliefs, are positive and good values to hold, when, in reality, the conversation is not about those values but more so about religious doctrine being endorsed and championed by the government," Snowden said. It is, the professor added, "dissolving a long-recognized separation between church and state."