BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - A court hearing on the controversial Ten Commandments law took place on Monday and the judge will now determine if the law should go into effect while the legality of the law is debated in the court system. This preliminary injunction hearing was for the state and plaintiffs to argue whether the state law mandating the Ten Commandments be posted in every public classroom should be allowed to move forward while the case moves through the court system. The plaintiffs argue there will be harm to children should the posters be put up before the constitutionality is ruled on. “I think while there may be many myths about the role of the [Ten Commandments] in the formation of legal tradition here, it is very clear that that is not documented in history,” said Alanah Odoms, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana. The lawmakers who passed the bill repeatedly said the Ten Commandments are a historical document that nearly all of the nation's laws are based on. They argue the history around the document should pass muster against the First Amendment violation claims. “I still think it's going to be very hard for the plaintiffs to overcome the fact that the law has not been enforced yet and that there are no posters up on any wall and that this is a very context-specific inquiry,” said Attorney General Liz Murrill. In the court hearing, the plaintiffs called a historian who specializes in law, religion, and education. Dr. Steven Green is a professor at Willamette University in Oregon. He has written multiple books and papers on the separation of church and state. He gave the historical context of the founding fathers and documents used in education in the early days of the nation. He concluded that the Ten Commandments were not a significant part of forming laws or public education, and only had an indirect influence at best. “I think it's very clear that the objective facts are that the founding fathers and those who spoke on the foundational documents, the foundational law of this country, really made clear that the First Amendment requires that the government not form a specific idea or influence a specific idea around religion,” Odoms said. This Week in Louisiana Politics: voting, TOPS, and energy The state asked to strike the historian’s testimony from evidence. Murrill argued the historian did not qualify as an expert witness. The state lawyers often tried to argue that he was biased and should not be considered evidence in a case like this.  “The testimony was admittedly subjective. The conclusions that he drew from the research that he's done was admittedly subjective. There are other historians who don't agree with him. Our point is this is not proper for an expert witness. Let him file an amicus brief,” Murrill said. The professor defended his stance by stating it is based on decades of research into the founding fathers and historical documents. The plaintiffs said it provides an argument on whether the Ten Commandments are truly a historical document related to the nation’s laws. “This case is really about the legal test for whether it violates the First Amendment or not. And I don't think that what he said had anything really relevant to that question for the judge,” said Murrill. A hearing on the merits of the case will come at a later time. The judge said that he plans to rule on this by Nov. 15 which is the agreed-upon date by both parties to hold off on allowing classrooms to put up posters when the law went into effect after the governor signed the law. The law states that all schools have to comply by Jan. 1, 2025. Latest News How pests can invade Halloween decorations, Rayville pest company explains Teen in custody after 5 people found dead in Washington state home: police Another festival caught selling imported shrimp as 'Gulf' shrimp NFL stadiums could lose $11 billion from climate threats by 2050: report Judge to decide if Ten Commandments can be posted in Louisiana classrooms