Today, Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a brief defending the constitutionality of H.B. 71, Louisiana’s law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. 

As the Supreme Court has recognized, the Ten Commandments have historical significance as one of the foundations of our legal system. Our Ten Commandments brief argues that a lawsuit filed by the ACLU is foreclosed on procedural grounds by binding Fifth Circuit and Supreme Court precedent. Our brief also argues that the ACLU’s lawsuit must be dismissed on the merits because they cannot carry their burden under Fifth Circuit and Supreme Court precedent to show that every H.B. 71 display would be unconstitutional.

 “Our brief illustrates just a few of the countless ways in which schools may constitutionally implement H.B. 71. Because the ACLU cannot carry their burden to show that the Ten Commandments law is unconstitutional in all its applications, this lawsuit must be dismissed. I am proud to defend the law, and I very much look forward to seeing the ACLU in court,” said Attorney General Liz Murrill.

Here are some of our examples:

Our Ten Commandments brief explains that a poster citing the late Justice Ginsburg’s emphasis on foundational documents in world history, including the Ten Commandments, is plainly constitutional. 

Our Ten Commandments brief explains that a poster describing the lawgivers reflected in the House of Representatives’ chamber, and Moses’s placement directly in front of Speaker Mike Johnson, is plainly constitutional.

Our Ten Commandments brief explains that an H.B. 71 poster describing Martin Luther King Jr.’s Ten Commandments of Non-Violence, alongside Moses’s own Ten Commandments, is plainly constitutional. 

Our Ten Commandments brief explains that a movie- and theater-themed H.B. 71 poster featuring Charlton Heston as Moses and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hamilton is plainly constitutional.