A constitutional command
It took almost no time at all for the ACLU and other civil liberties groups to file a federal suit against the state of Louisiana after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill that would require state-funded schools at all levels display a poster of the Ten Commandments, along with a socalled “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. 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.
Even with the sharp rightward turn of the US Supreme Court over the past few years, this is not really an edge case.
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.
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, but in the much likelier scenario that it doesn’t he can turn that loss into donations 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.