Louisiana became the only state in the nation to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom when Governor Jeff Landry signed the law in June. The ACLU and several other groups then challenged it in federal court on the grounds that it violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Governor and his allies expected this challenge, and welcomed it, because it allows them to carry out their strategy of dismantling legal precedents by directly attacking them. The Ten Commandments law should be viewed in context as a leading symbol in the current Louisiana culture war.
Landry and his allies are following a strategy similar to Mississippi in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. A restrictive abortion law was passed by the Mississippi Legislature with the specific intent of attacking and overturning Roe v. Wade. Several states, including Louisiana, passed similar restrictive abortion laws with the same intent. Dobbs was the first one to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, so it was the test case that successfully overturned Roe.
The motivation for conservative Southern state legislatures deciding to challenge long standing legal precedents was the addition of Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court during the Trump Administration. These additions significantly shifted the ideology of the court to the right, making it a favorable environment for test cases from Republican legislatures wanting to overturn precedents and institute a more conservative interpretation of the law.
The Louisiana Ten Commandments test case is designed to attack and overturn Stone v. Graham (1980), in which the Supreme Court ruled that a Kentucky law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms was unconstitutional because it lacked a secular legislative purpose. The vote was 5 to 4.
Although federal court cases get a lot of attention, it is important to point out that most culture war battles are not fought in the courts. They are more often fought at the ballot box on election day and in state legislatures.
The Louisiana Legislature currently has Republican supermajorities in both the house and senate. These supermajorities combined with a Republican governor has allowed the state to pass some of the most conservative culture war legislation in the U.S.
In addition to one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, other bills passed into law include legislation restricting discussions of sexual orientation in public school classrooms, (the “don’t say gay” law), legislation prohibiting gender change surgery on minors even if approved by parents, a law classifying medical abortion pills as controlled substances, and legislation removing the requirement that law-abiding adults need a permit or training to carry a concealed weapon (constitutional carry). While one or more of these laws might still be challenged in court, most are expected to stand.
For the past year, the culture war has been one-sided, with Republicans winning the majority of battles. The Democratic Party in Louisiana was disorganized and unable to serve as a traditional opposition party. The Democrats recently elected a new state party chair, so the jury is out on whether new leadership can improve their fortunes.
Governor Landry did suffer a couple of legislative culture war losses. His bills to restrict access to public records and to call a constitutional convention both failed. The only major loss the Louisiana Republican Party as a whole suffered was in court. The Republicans lost one of their safe U.S. House districts. Although the litigation is ongoing, the make-up for this November’s Congressional election will be 4 majority Republican districts, and 2 majority Democratic districts, the result of a Voting Rights Act lawsuit alleging unconstitutional redistricting, and a compromise map creating a second majority Black district which leans Democratic in terms of voter registration.
Regardless of which side of the culture war you are on, there are still opportunities to make a difference. In last year’s governor’s race, the statewide turnout was only 36 percent. This shows that the majority of voters are not participating at all and there is a lot of room to grow voter participation and change election outcomes. The actions that you can take to help your side win the culture war are to vote, and then take the initiative to go out and make sure all of your family, friends, and neighbors vote. Do not allow 36 percent of the electorate to determine the fate of the other 64 percent.
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Ten Commandments law symbolic of the Louisiana culture war
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Louisiana became the only state in the nation to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom when Governor Jeff Landry signed the law in June. The ACLU and several other groups then challenged it in federal court on the grounds that it violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Governor and his allies expected this challenge, and welcomed it, because it allows them to carry out their strategy of dismantling legal precedents by directly attacking them. The Ten Commandments law should be viewed in context as a leading symbol in the current Louisiana culture war.
Landry and his allies are following a strategy similar to Mississippi in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. A restrictive abortion law was passed by the Mississippi Legislature with the specific intent of attacking and overturning Roe v. Wade. Several states, including Louisiana, passed similar restrictive abortion laws with the same intent. Dobbs was the first one to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, so it was the test case that successfully overturned Roe.
The motivation for conservative Southern state legislatures deciding to challenge long standing legal precedents was the addition of Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court during the Trump Administration. These additions significantly shifted the ideology of the court to the right, making it a favorable environment for test cases from Republican legislatures wanting to overturn precedents and institute a more conservative interpretation of the law.
The Louisiana Ten Commandments test case is designed to attack and overturn Stone v. Graham (1980), in which the Supreme Court ruled that a Kentucky law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms was unconstitutional because it lacked a secular legislative purpose. The vote was 5 to 4.
Although federal court cases get a lot of attention, it is important to point out that most culture war battles are not fought in the courts. They are more often fought at the ballot box on election day and in state legislatures.
The Louisiana Legislature currently has Republican supermajorities in both the house and senate. These supermajorities combined with a Republican governor has allowed the state to pass some of the most conservative culture war legislation in the U.S.
In addition to one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, other bills passed into law include legislation restricting discussions of sexual orientation in public school classrooms, (the “don’t say gay” law), legislation prohibiting gender change surgery on minors even if approved by parents, a law classifying medical abortion pills as controlled substances, and legislation removing the requirement that law-abiding adults need a permit or training to carry a concealed weapon (constitutional carry). While one or more of these laws might still be challenged in court, most are expected to stand.
For the past year, the culture war has been one-sided, with Republicans winning the majority of battles. The Democratic Party in Louisiana was disorganized and unable to serve as a traditional opposition party. The Democrats recently elected a new state party chair, so the jury is out on whether new leadership can improve their fortunes.
Governor Landry did suffer a couple of legislative culture war losses. His bills to restrict access to public records and to call a constitutional convention both failed. The only major loss the Louisiana Republican Party as a whole suffered was in court. The Republicans lost one of their safe U.S. House districts. Although the litigation is ongoing, the make-up for this November’s Congressional election will be 4 majority Republican districts, and 2 majority Democratic districts, the result of a Voting Rights Act lawsuit alleging unconstitutional redistricting, and a compromise map creating a second majority Black district which leans Democratic in terms of voter registration.
Regardless of which side of the culture war you are on, there are still opportunities to make a difference. In last year’s governor’s race, the statewide turnout was only 36 percent. This shows that the majority of voters are not participating at all and there is a lot of room to grow voter participation and change election outcomes. The actions that you can take to help your side win the culture war are to vote, and then take the initiative to go out and make sure all of your family, friends, and neighbors vote. Do not allow 36 percent of the electorate to determine the fate of the other 64 percent.
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Robert Collins
Robert Collins is a professor of Urban Studies and Public Policy at Dillard, where he holds the Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Professorship. He previously held positions as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences... More by Robert Collins