--- title: Trump Pivotal to Passage of Louisiana Ten Commandments Law description: Louisiana Republicans would never have passed a law requiring the Commandments in classrooms if Trump hadn't changed the Supreme Court while President canonical: https://time.com/6990381/ten-commandments-louisiana-trump/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-06-20T20:08:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:48:41.489Z article:section: Politics og:title: Louisiana Ten Commandments Law Couldn’t Have Happened Without Trump og:description: Louisiana's new Ten Commandments Law couldn't have happened without Trump. That's because the state's Republicans are counting on Trump's Supreme Court picks to back the law, writes Philip Elliott. og:url: https://time.com/6990381/ten-commandments-louisiana-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde55d85f1b2c95ae/698a57fb9862f52b43895d40/GettyImages-2158175252.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Campaigns For President In Racine, Wisconsin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Louisiana Ten Commandments Law Couldn’t Have Happened Without Trump twitter:description: Louisiana's new Ten Commandments Law couldn't have happened without Trump. That's because the state's Republicans are counting on Trump's Supreme Court picks to back the law, writes Philip Elliott. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde55d85f1b2c95ae/698a57fb9862f52b43895d40/GettyImages-2158175252.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Louisiana's Ten Commandments Law Couldn't Have Happened Without Trump  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jun 20, 2024 8:08 PM UTC  Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Racine, Wisconsin, on June 18, 2024 Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Racine, Wisconsin, on June 18, 2024Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jun 20, 2024 8:08 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry knew the score when he [signed](https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-ten-commandments-displayed-classrooms-571a2447906f7bbd5a166d53db005a62) into law a requirement that every classroom in his state—from kindergarten classrooms to college chemistry labs—must post a copy of the Ten Commandments. In fact, the ambitious Republican seemed to be trolling his critics even before he sanctified the work of the GOP-controlled [legislature](https://ballotpedia.org/Tennessee%5FGeneral%5FAssembly). “I’m going home to sign a bill that places the Ten Commandments in public classrooms,” he [said](https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2024/06/16/tennessee-republican-party-statesmens-dinner-leaders-eye-november-tout-trump-slam-guilty-verdict/73879046007/) Saturday night as he headlined a Republican Party fundraiser in Nashville. “And I can’t wait to be sued.” Lawsuits were at the ready as soon as Landry signed the bill on Wednesday. It is abundantly clear this effort [seems](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp66xdxj0l3o) on a glide path toward the Supreme Court, which for decades has [ruled](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/louisianas-radical-new-law-ten-commandments-schools-matters-rcna158001) such expressions of faith [collide](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/us/louisiana-ten-commandments-classrooms.html) fatally with the First Amendment’s prohibition from state-sanctioned faith. But given the new tilt of the bench, conservatives’ credo might be reduced to a simple profession: _In Trump They Trust_. That’s right. Donald Trump has been out of official power since early 2021 but his presence continues to be felt at every level of government. His legacy is most firmly established through his three picks to the Supreme Court, part of the record-breaking 231 federal judges Trump successfully [nominated](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/trump-installed-historic-number-judges-biden-outpacing-far-rcna48142) to federal roles. The Trump cohort of judges—mostly young conservatives with a bent to treat the roles as political callings rather than academic exercises—stand to shape American jurisprudence for a generation. And the Supreme Court is the most obvious and impactful of any of those levels thanks to 56-year-old Neil Gorsuch, 59-year-old Brett Kavanaugh, and 52-year-old Amy Coney Barrett. That Trumpian trio is why Louisiana’s governor sounded so excited about being sued. While the Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that a similar Kentucky law was [unconstitutional](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1980/80-321), a majority of the current justices may see things differently. They’ve already shown an openness to the Christian conservatives’ argument that faith and government can co-exist if not thrive in a symbiotic relationship. Notably, in 2022, Justices sided with a high school coach who [argued](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/27/us/politics/supreme-court-coach-prayers.html) his players had the right to pray at the 50-yard line and that Maine could not [block](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/us/politics/supreme-court-maine-religious-schools.html) religious schools from receiving a state subsidy. A year earlier, in a unanimous ruling, the Court said a Catholic group in Philadelphia could [refuse](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/us/supreme-court-gay-rights-foster-care.html) to work with same-sex couples on fostering children. By one study’s count, parties arguing on the basis of so-called religious liberty found [success](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/us/politics/supreme-court-religion.html) four out of five times. That’s no accident on a bench stacked by Trump with the explicit call to arms to [blend](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/us/politics/supreme-court-maine-religious-schools.html) religion—specifically, Christianity—with the rule of law. This, in no small measure, helps to explain how self-described Values Voters have fallen into line behind the less-than-pious Trump and his bid to return to power in this November’s election. A Pew Research Institute [study](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/06/religious-values-and-the-2024-election/) finds 43% of Trump supporters think government policies should support religious values, and 69% who say the Bible should influence U.S. laws. A second Pew study [finds](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/15/5-facts-about-religion-and-americans-views-of-donald-trump/) Trump riding high among white Evangelical protestants by a 2-to-1 margin. While the Ten Commandments are important pieces of Jewish and Christian teachings and compatible with Islam, the play in Louisiana—and elsewhere, to be clear—have clear linkages to the current Republican Party’s courtship of Christian conservatives, especially white Christian nationalists. That first Pew [survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/06/religious-values-and-the-2024-election/) found 22% of Trump supporters say the government should declare Christianity the official national religion and 59% who say the government should promote Christian morality. So while Trump is out of sanctioned power—at least for the moment—there is still no credible way to argue that he’s without tremendous sway over the Republican Party and the laws it is passing. Louisiana may be the first test case of these omnipresent reminders of religious teachings, but it most certainly will not be the last. The current political environment is one that rewards such audacious acts, and it’s no accident that Landry chose to taunt his critics while signaling his national ambitions during a dinner more than 500 miles from home. For any GOP politician looking to make inroads with the party’s conservative Christian base—be it a first-term Governor or a convicted ex-President—pandering like this works to build lists, credibility, and fundraising tallies. If secular voters—or even those who think the place for expressions of faith are better served in a sanctuary than a Nashville convention hall—stopped rewarding such trolling, perhaps the sanctimonious performance art would stop. One can only pray. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6990381/ten-commandments-louisiana-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6990381/ten-commandments-louisiana-trump/"},"headline":"Louisiana's Ten Commandments Law Couldn't Have Happened Without Trump","datePublished":"2024-06-20T20:08:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:48:41.489Z","description":"Louisiana's Governor is counting on support from Trump's Supreme Court picks","url":"https://time.com/6990381/ten-commandments-louisiana-trump/","keywords":["The D.C. 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