'Can't wait to be sued': Louisiana governor speaks out on controversial Ten Commandments law

It is now the law in Louisiana to display the 10 commandments in every single public school classroom from kindergarten to college. Republican Governor Jeff Landry, who signed the bill into law on Wednesday, said he can't wait to get sued over it. That quote, if you want to respect the rule of law, you've got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses. Joining me now, former federal prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst, Paul Butler. So, Paul, there was a case back in 1980 with the same thing at issue and the Supreme Court said no way, no how it is unconstitutional to have the 10 commandments in public classrooms. Why would this case, why would this state, Louisiana bring do this again knowing that the Supreme Court already ruled that that was not constitutional 30 years ago? Because, Katie, this is a test case. That's what the governor of Louisiana meant when he said he can't wait to be sued. He's hoping that the current Supreme Court will reverse years of precedence about the importance of separation between church and state. Based on that precedent, this Louisiana law seems clearly unconstitutional. In that 1980 case, it was called Stone versus Ram. The court ruled that requiring the display of the of the 10 commandments violates the 1st Amendment's Establishment Clause that says that the government can't support one religion over another religion or even require that people be religious as opposed to not being religious 40 years ago. Excuse me, I'm getting my math wrong. So they are trying this again. They believe this court is going to be friendlier to them. Is this court going to be friendlier to them? It very well may be. Under Chief Justice Roberts, this court has greatly expanded religious rights. In 2022, the court ruled in favor of a football culture's right to prey on the field. That was a sixth three decision, with the court's liberals dissenting. The court has also said that a Catholic Social Services Agency can turn away gay and lesbian couples who want to take in foster children. The court has allowed religious schools to get government money and said that employers who have religious objections to birth control can deny insurance coverage for contraception to women. So again, this court is eroding the distinction between church and state and Louisiana's governor is hoping to capitalize on that with this new law. I, I get that. But this one seems to, to go a step further. Even in those other cases, this is, this is putting up a religious document. They're arguing that there's secular value to it, that that U.S. law is based off of it. But that's the same exact argument that was made back in 1980 in the in the other state that was trying to do this. And then the same exact argument that was struck down. I know the Lemon rule has been basically overturned, but, but having this displayed prominently in every single public classroom, wouldn't that if you're trying to not have a, you know, a strong connection or a unconstitutional connection between church and state, once you also have to display the commandments for other religions and their basis of law as prominently in public schools alongside it? Such an important point, Katie. You know, in mostly other cases, the court is protecting people who want to exercise their religion. This Louisiana case is different. There, the state government is requiring that public school students must be exposed to the 10 commandments in every classroom. No state has gone that far. So if this case makes it to the Supreme Court, the big question is whether the court will respect precedent and say that the Louisiana law is unconstitutional, or whether it will reverse years of settled law like it's done in cases involving abortion, affirmative action, voting rights. This is an ultra conservative court that advances its right wing jurisprudence and sometimes doesn't seem to care about the impact of its ruling on real people. Is the 5th Circuit likely to to uphold this again, because this case is different from the precedent, it's quite difficult to predict again, in the Supreme Court. Now, these cases take a conservative versus liberal vote. The 5th Circuit is one of the more conservative courts, so it might well uphold the Louisiana law, which would send the case to the Supreme Court. Paul Butler. Paul, thank you very much.