LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman led a multi-state conservative coalition in supporting a Louisiana law that would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public K-12 and college classrooms.

A federal judge blocked the law from being implemented in November, calling it “unconstitutional on its face” and “overtly religious,” but the state of Louisiana is challenging the ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Coleman, a Republican wrapping up his first year as attorney general, led a coalition of 17 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to the court in support of the law.

For Kentucky, this is not the first foray with this legal question.

In 1980, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a Kentucky law requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Then, the law violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause — taken together, they state that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

In the 27-page amicus brief filed Wednesday, Coleman said the Supreme Court, in the 1980 case, “tersely concluded that a Kentucky statute requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms violates the Establishment Clause.”

But since the legal precedent cited in that case — Lemon v. Kurtzman — had been overruled, courts should not use the same reasoning in deciding Louisiana’s case, Coleman argued.

Lemon v. Kurtzman, which dates back to 1971, established a three-part test to determine if a law violated the Establishment Clause: Does the law advance or promote or inhibit a particular religion? Does it have a secular legislative purpose? And, does it result in excessive government entanglement with religion?

That case was overturned in 2022, Coleman noted in the brief. In its place, the Supreme court “instructed that the Establishment Clause must be interpreted by ‘reference to historical practices and understandings.’”

Using this lens, the Ten Commandments have “historical significance as one of the foundations of our legal system,” and are displayed in the Supreme Court and other prominent buildings in the nation’s capital. Why not display them in public schools, he asked.

This approach “is the proper way to judge the constitutionality of Louisiana’s law (and) must account for the reality that acknowledgments (on public property) of the role played by the Ten Commandments in our nation’s heritage are common throughout America,” Coleman added.

He pointed out in the release that Louisiana’s law also requires a three-paragraph “context statement” to accompany every display, backing up the document’s historical prominence.

“From our founding documents to the establishment of the rule of law in the United States, the Ten Commandments’ influence on American history is undeniable,” said Coleman. “I am proud to support Attorney General Liz Murrill and Louisiana in the effort to preserve our shared history and educate future generations.”

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, who brought the 1980 case that eventually led to the removal of the Ten Commandments removed from public school classrooms, chided Coleman, calling it “unfortunate that in 2024 government officials both here and elsewhere are still trying to use government for the purpose of promoting a particular religious viewpoint, especially in our public-school classrooms.”

The ACLU called Louisiana’s law, and Kentucky’s former law, an “ill-advised and transparent attempt to use public school classrooms to improperly promote a specific religion.

“And with the educational challenges children face in both Louisiana and Kentucky, public officials should be focused on solving those problems rather than undermining parents’ rights to direct the religious upbringing of their own children.”

Coleman was joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

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