It took almost no time at all for the ACLU and other civil liberties groups to file federal suit against the state of Louisiana after GOP Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill that would require state-funded schools at all levels — from kindergarten on up — display a poster of the Ten Commandments, along with a so-called “context statement.”
Once again, it’s time for this song and dance, where public officials waste everyone’s time and judicial resources by attempting to trample the separation of church and state for none other than some political rabble-rousing.
Lawyers for Louisiana will likely try to roll out a variety of highly technical arguments around why this directive is not a violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, probably centering around the idea that the document is being used in some permissible educational capacity. They will present this argument in court in bad faith, knowing full well it is a pretext, and we hope federal judges won’t let them get away with it.
There’s no need to so thoughtfully consider evasive legal maneuvers when state officials including Landry himself have been crystal clear about the religious motivation of the law, having said that respecting the rule of law requires starting “from the original lawgiver, which was Moses.”
Well, Moses wrote in Hebrew, not English and this is not an educational effort but an ideological one, and one that clearly puts the conception of the Ten Commandments above the foundational rules of other religions, which is in exact contravention of the Constitution’s requirement that the government not prioritize one religion over another.
If this all seems a little bit familiar to you, it might be because the Ten Commandments in particular has become a go-to symbol for Christian conservatives to try to push the envelope. Over and over, they have tried to put up Ten Commandments displays and crosses in schools, courthouses and other public buildings, and been almost unanimously slapped down by the courts.
Even with the sharp rightward turn of the U.S. Supreme Court over the past few years, this is not really an edge case. Landry and his cadre have overstepped, and are very unlikely to succeed. Even Justice Sam Alito, recently recorded agreeing that the country needed to return to “a place of godliness,” is unlikely to play ball here. It’s a case that seems designed to be lost, and maybe that’s not an accident.
After signing the statute, Landry said “I can’t wait to be sued,” appearing to understand not only he definitely would be but that this would be excellent political fodder, not even if he wins, but especially if he loses. That will give him the ability to rail against the godless heathens and Commies who have taken over the courts and spurned this nation’s supposedly integral Christian character, which is of course what this is really all about.
Landry doesn’t care that much if the poster really ends up in schools or not; on the off chance it does, he can claim a victory for his movement, but in the much likelier scenario that it doesn’t he can turn that loss into donations, Fox News hits and the energizing of an evangelical base. There’s little downside for him, unless voters show him in the only poll that matters that they don’t appreciate his antics.
