Louisiana teacher asks Supreme Court to weigh in on state law mandating Ten Commandments displays in school classrooms

A Louisiana teacher is asking the Supreme Court to consider the state’s law mandating that public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments, arguing it’s a form of state-favored religion in violation of the Constitution.

In 2024, Louisiana passed a law requiring all public-school classrooms to display the commandments on a poster of at least 11 by 14 inches in “large, easily readable font.” The measure sparked a lengthy legal fight – a federal district court initially blocked the law, but the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the displays to go through earlier this year.

Christopher Dier, a teacher in the state, filed a petition before the Supreme Court, urging it to settle the question of whether the Establishment Clause allows religious displays. 

“I have spent over 16 years teaching my students that the Constitution protects every one of them – every faith, and no faith,” Dier said, the Louisiana Illuminator reported. “I respect the Ten Commandments and the place religion holds in millions of Americans’ lives, undoubtedly. But the state cannot turn my classroom into a place to deliver its own religious message or make me the messenger who delivers it.” 

Dier “strongly objects to the message these state-mandated displays convey – that the State officially endorses a particular religion’s authority and moral teachings – and has sworn that he cannot comply with the law, even at the risk of losing his job,” the petition reads, arguing that the Constitution was “framed for religious pluralism.”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill did not directly address the petition when asked about it by Heartlander News, but instead said, “Louisiana schools should follow the law.” Gov. Jeff Landry’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.  

Debate over Ten Commandments displays spreads nationally 

Following Louisiana’s law, multiple states followed suit, sparking similar legal battles across the country. More than two dozen families are challenging a similar law in Texas, recently asking the Supreme Court to decide whether Ten Commandments displays are constitutional.  

“The question whether a State may do this is one of exceptional and growing national importance,” Dier’s petition argued, noting that while “Louisiana acted first,” Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee have followed with similar measures.  

“Millions of schoolchildren, required by law to attend school, and hundreds of thousands of teachers, required by their offices to serve there, now learn and work beneath state-prescribed religious displays or soon will,” the petition noted. “Whether the Establishment Clause permits that arrangement will be settled for the Nation by this Court.” 

Religion in the public square 

Supporters of Louisiana’s law mandating the displays of the Ten Commandments argue that religious symbols have long been a part of American public life and displaying them showcases their historical significance.

Becket, a religious liberty law firm supporting Louisiana’s law, points out that the law requires a context statement to explain the history of the Ten Commandments in public education and includes an option for schools to display other historical documents alongside it, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Mayflower Compact. 

“This kind of passive religious symbolism in the public square has been a part of American life for centuries,” Becket argues, “appearing in everything from state seals and flags to our national monuments and currency.”