Louisiana’s 2020 Teacher of the Year is trying to block the state’s Ten Commandments law

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s 2020 Teacher of the Year has filed a lawsuit against the state challenging a new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom by Jan. 1.

It’s the second lawsuit filed against the law, which was enacted in June. The first lawsuit was filed in Baton Rouge soon after the law passed. The judge in that case has said he will try to rule on a motion to block the law by Nov. 15.

The second suit has drawn less attention. It was filed in New Orleans on Sept. 23 by Christopher Dier, a history teacher at Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans. Dier told The Associated Press in an interview last summer that he had no intention of displaying the Ten Commandments in his classroom.

U.S. District Judge Greg Guidry was to meet with attorneys in the case by telephone Wednesday to work out a schedule, including a possible trial date for Dier’s lawsuit. Defendants in the suit include Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who signed the bill into law, Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill, Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and members of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Dier’s suit says the law, referred to by its legislative bill number HB71, targets children with a religious message and “conscripts” teachers into displaying it in violation of First Amendment language forbidding government establishment of religion and guaranteeing religious liberty. Echoing other critics of the law, it says the version of the Ten Commandments required in the law is one favored by Protestant denominations and that forcing its display could isolate students who are not Christians.

“I don’t believe in doing something that is unconstitutional and harmful to students,” Dier told the AP in June.

State officials argue HB71 is not solely religious and that the Ten Commandments have historical significance in the foundation of U.S. law. They have filed a motion to dismiss Dier’s lawsuit.

A big part of their argument is that Dier has not yet suffered any harm for which he can sue.

“He challenges only some unspecified future H.B. 71 display that he presumes may violate his rights at some unspecified future time. But he does not know — and Defendants do not know — how his (or any) school will select its H.B. 71 display(s), what size they will be, where they will be located, what context will be included, and so on,” the motion to dismiss says.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge is considering motions argued Monday in the earlier lawsuit filed by several parents of Louisiana school children. The motions include one to block enforcement of the law.

The law will apply to all public school K-12 and state-funded university classrooms. It requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed on a poster or framed document at least 11 inches by 14 inches (28 by 36 centimeters) where the text is the central focus and “printed in a large, easily readable font.” Each poster must be paired with a four-paragraph context statement.