Trump praises Louisiana displaying Ten Commandments in public schools
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Donald Trump on June 15 in Detroit. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Former President Trump in the early hours of Friday endorsed displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools, days after Louisiana became the first state in the country to require it.
Why it matters: The Louisiana law will inevitably draw legal challenges that, with a 6-3 Republican majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, could redefine 40-year-old limits on how far states can go to endorse religion in public spaces like schools.
Driving the news: "I love the Ten Commandments in public schools, private schools, and many other places," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday.
- "This may be, in fact, the first major step in the revival of religion, which is desperately needed, in our country," he added.
Catch up quick: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed the law Wednesday, requiring all classrooms at schools receiving public funding, including colleges and universities, to display a Protestant translation of the Ten Commandments.
- A number of civil rights organizations such as the ACLU have already vowed to file suit to challenge the law.
State of play: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1980 that a Kentucky law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public classrooms was unconstitutional.
- However, conservative activists hope that the Supreme Court's current 6-3 Republican majority — which Trump was instrumental in creating —will be inclined to rule more favorably.
- "It alarms me greatly because I believe that this Supreme Court might go ahead and say that this is ok to do," Anthea Butler, chair of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, told MSNBC this week.
Zoom out: Other Republican-led states have unsuccessfully attempted to implement similar measures.
- A bill requiring a display of the Ten Commandments — measuring no less than 16 inches by 20 inches — be put up in all public school classrooms was introduced in the Oklahoma House earlier this year.
- In Utah, a watered-down version of a similar bill was passed earlier this year. It will allow teachers to discuss the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
- South Carolina introduced a bill last year calling for every public elementary, middle and high school to display a copy of the Ten Commandments.
- A similar bill was also introduced in Texas last year. Despite passing through the Senate, it failed in the House.
Flashback: Efforts to install the Ten Commandments in public buildings aren't new.
- Back in 2001, then-Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore had a two-and-a-half ton monument of the Ten Commandments in the State Judicial Building rotunda. It was ordered removed the following year.
- In 2018, Alabama approved a measure allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed on public property, per the Montgomery Advertiser.
Go deeper: Louisiana becomes 1st state requiring Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms
