Ten Commandments posters won't go in Louisiana classrooms until November

Louisiana will delay implementing a new law in some schools that requires a display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom, according to an agreement Friday.

Parents of children in Louisiana public schools from various faith backgrounds filed a lawsuit challenging the new law days after Gov. Jeff Landry signed it last month. They argued the requirement was unconstitutional and violated Supreme Court precedent that upheld separation of church and state.

The defendants – Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and five school boards – agreed to hold off on placing Ten Commandments posters in classrooms before Nov. 15. The listed state education officials will also not "promulgate advice, rules, or regulations regarding proper implementation of the challenged statute" until then, the agreement filed in U.S. District Court for Middle District of Louisiana said.

But Louisiana Attorney General spokesperson Lester Duhé told USA TODAY the Jan. 1 deadline for all schools to hang the posters still applies. He added the defendants agreed to the delayed implementation to allow time for the trial and decision.

Louisiana's new law, drafted by Republican state Rep. Dodie Horton and signed by Landry, also a Republican, mandates a poster-sized display of the religious rules in “large, easily readable font” for kindergarten classrooms up to state-funded universities.

On Friday, Horton told the USA Today Network: "I'm confident we will prevail in court."

U.S. District Court Judge John deGravelles's order said he will set a hearing Sept. 30 with a ruling expected by mid-November.

Louisiana Ten Commandments law draws national spotlight

The new law has drawn intense national interest and attention, including from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who voiced his support last month both in a social media post and during a campaign speech.

“Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal’? I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible,” Trump said at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Conference. “They don’t want it to go up. It’s a crazy world.’’

But others say the mandated displays will negatively impact students.

"The Ten Commandments displays required under state law will create an unwelcoming and oppressive school environment for children, like ours, who don’t believe in the state’s official version of scripture," the Rev. Darcy Roake, a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement.

The law's text describes the Ten Commandments' "historical role" and says: "Including the Ten Commandments in the education of our children is part of our state and national history, culture, and tradition."

"If you want to respect the rule of law you've got to start from the original law given, which was Moses," Landry said during the bill-signing ceremony.

The governor did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment Friday.

Other states have tried to mandate Ten Commandments school displays

The disputed mandate is the only one of its kind in the country, but Louisiana is not the first to try. More than a dozen states have attempted similar bills over decades.

In 1978, Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public elementary and secondary school classroom. A Kentucky state trial court and the state supreme court upheld the law, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against it in a 5-4 decision in November 1980.

In Arizona, a bill was introduced earlier this year that would have added the Ten Commandments to a list of historical documents that “a teacher or administrator in any school in this state may read or post in any school building.” The bill passed the state Senate on Feb. 21 and the House on April 2. Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the measure on April 16, writing: "Not only do I have serious concerns about the constitutionality of this legislation, it is also unnecessary."

Contributing: George Petras, Savannah Kuchar and Darren Samuelsohn, USA TODAY