A teacher in Louisiana has asked the Supreme Court to hear a constitutional challenge to a state law mandating that the Ten Commandments be posted in every K-12 and college classroom.
The law was swiftly met with legal challenges shortly after it was passed.
The posters began going up in classrooms this summer, following the approval of a 2024 law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every K-12, college and university classroom at schools that accept state money. The law was mired in a legal battle until earlier this year, when the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled it could go into effect.
Chris Dier, Louisiana’s Teacher of the Year for 2020, filed the motion asking for the Supreme Court to intervene. Dier taught at Chalmette High School when he won the honor and is currently on the faculty at Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans.
“I have spent over 16 years teaching my students that the Constitution protects every one of them — every faith, and no faith,” Dier said. “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.”
"They did a phenomenal job, and they came out with a phenomenal opinion."@LAGovJeffLandry responds to Friday's 5th Circuit ruling allowing Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in school classrooms. pic.twitter.com/ea9ZHxdgOk
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) February 24, 2026
As a history teacher in Louisiana, here is why I’m deeply disturbed by the state coercing public school teachers to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms: 🧵
— Chris Dier (@chrisdier) June 20, 2024
Other states, including Texas, Arkansas, and Alabama have passed a similar law. After a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the law, schools began putting up the Ten Commandments in their classrooms.
The Republican-controlled state Legislature passed the Ten Commandments law in 2024, but it was paused after a group of public-school parents sued, arguing that the displays violated their children’s religious freedom. A federal judge declared the law unconstitutional, but in February the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s ruling.
The appeals court said the legal challenge was premature because it came before the law was enacted, leaving the door open for future lawsuits by parents and civil liberties groups now that the displays are going up.
But for now, the law has taken effect. Some school systems quickly put up the posters. Others remained wary. But Gov. Jeff Landry directed districts to comply, arguing that students will “greatly benefit” from seeing the posters in school.
In a post on X, Gov. Jeff Landry wrote, “If your kids don’t grow up reading the Ten Commandments, they’ll grow up reading the criminal code!”