The US state of Louisiana on Wednesday introduced a law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school and university classroom by next year.
The law stipulates that a poster listing the Ten Commandments in a "large, easily readable font" be put up in all public classrooms across the south-eastern state including in universities and kindergartens.
The poster needs to be at least 11 inches (28 centimetres) by 14 inches (35.5 centimetres), according to the legislation.
The controversial law was drafted by representatives of the Republican Party, which holds a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Louisiana legislature.
The posters are to be financed by donations and state funds will not to be used.
In a joint statement, civil rights groups said the law violates the separation of church and state and was "blatantly unconstitutional."
"We will not allow Louisiana lawmakers to undermine these religious-freedom rights," the statement said. The groups announced that they would take legal action.
Louisiana is the first and so far only state in the US with such a law. Similar considerations have also been made in Texas, Oklahoma and Utah.