How many of you know that Im suing the state ofLouisiana?
teacher Chris Dier asks his AP U.S. history class.
Twenty-two hands shoot up in the air all but one student have heard the news about Diers lawsuit.
New Orleans teacher Chris Dier (center), who is suing to stop the Ten Commandments law, poses with his students (from left) Mikayla, Kirsten, Ingrid, Jalen, and Cayla.Camille Farrah Lenain for Rolling Stone
A student asks Dier to explain the law.
I represent teachers to say That is unconstitutional.
Dier explains that the lawsuit was filed in federal court.
That is what makes it so big, because this could set a precedent for the entire country.
When I saw that, I was just like, Cmon now.
Everyone starts talking at once.
One teen says, This is just another way the government has imposed control over young people.
You are supposed to go to school and learn, and youre still growing.
Yall got the wrong people right now.
If we wanted that, we would have gone there.
Beginning of the Fight
Dier is one of 15 people suing the state over the lawLouisiana Gov.
Dier is the first educator to sue over the Louisiana law.
The ACLU along with nine families in Louisiana are also suing the government to stop it.
This is just the beginning of this fight.
The case has the potential to earn landmark status alongside theScopestrial, otherwise known as the Monkey Trial.
Its religious coercion for some of our most vulnerable citizens: children.
She points out that the Ten Commandments law is about more than just classrooms.
Because America wouldnt look like America America wouldnt be America without church-state separation.
So those core 10 values, its a start so kids [can know] Thou shalt not kill.
The kids are hungry for it, and they have to get it somewhere.
Im seeing what youre saying, the woman who originally protested said.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house.
No legislation has gotten more national attention than this Ten Commandments law.
The Ten Commandments are the fabric of civilization, and youre telling me we cant hang them in school?
When I brought up people who dont believe in God, Landry got impassioned.
They dont have to look at the poster!
They dont believe in what?
(It was eventually ruled unconstitutional, and he was ordered to have it removed.)
Landrys efforts to push his state further right have made him a favorite of the Trump family.
(Diers lawsuit has been assigned to a Trump appointee and will be heard at a later date.)
One man in a priest collar occasionally clasped his hands in prayer during the brief breaks.
They could present it in a world-religion class … but they havent done that.
He added, Most religions in the world would not revere or follow the Ten Commandments.
Green answered, I could not find any evidence of that.
I just dont think we need a historian to be an expert witness in this case.
Weeks later, DeGravelles ultimately allowed Greens testimony.
Were talking at her kitchen table with her husband and two ACLU representatives.
The couple tell me theyre leading the lawsuit because of how important it is to their family.
Roake and Van Young make it a point to be intentional about their sons religious upbringing and interfaith values.
I was raised Reform Jewish, Van Young says.
Its a tenant of that faith that you dont evangelize your religion to others.
Roake explains Unitarian Universalists value the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
This idea that these commandments are on this wall is neither free nor responsible.
Theyre not responsible to the young people that are going to read them.
In every decision that weve made around our childrens interfaith upbringing, its intentional and meaningful, Roake says.
Before deciding to sue the state, they spoke to their children about it while on vacation in Mississippi.
We asked their permission, Roake says.
We very much take seriously our childrens perspectives, their privacy.
Theyre making their own decisions.
Its their 10-year-old who can grasp the concepts better.
We have a giant Hanukkah party every year.
We have all these traditions that are comingling and integrated constantly.
The next step will be oral arguments about the temporary injunction in the conservative Fifth Circuit appellate court.
He said he couldnt wait to tell his friends.
One student brought Dier samosas after his lawsuit became public, another baked him a cake.
Well come stand behind you and make menacing faces, one girl says.
This story has been updated to reflect proper attribution of a quote by student Ingrid.
