Judge Blocks Louisiana Law Mandating 10 Commandments in Schools

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Louisiana law that would have required every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments. 

U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles of Baton Rouge ruled Tuesday that the law is "unconstitutional on its face" and violates the free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment.

A coalition of parents supported by The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit to block the requirement that was signed into law in June.

As CBN News reported, the law required every Louisiana classroom from kindergarten to the university level, which receives state funding, to display the commandments "on a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches" by Jan.1. 

Each poster was required to be paired with the four-paragraph "context statement" describing how the Ten Commandments "were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries."

Litigation began quickly with the American Civil Liberties Union vowing to challenge the law as soon as it was signed. 

"Our public schools are not Sunday schools...and students of all faiths — or no faith — should feel welcome in them," reads a statement released by the group.

Supporters of the law said the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. They added that the commandments displays were going to be paid for by private donations so the state wasn't going to fund them.

deGravelles, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, granted a preliminary injunction while a lawsuit proceeds. This means the state is not allowed to plan to promote or create rules surrounding the law.  

He also ordered state Attorney General Liz Murrill's office to "provide notice to all schools that the Act has been found unconstitutional."

At a news conference after the hearing, Murrill pushed back at the ruling saying the posters are constitutional. 

"This law, I believe, is constitutional, and we've illustrated it in numerous ways that the law is constitutional. We've shown that in our briefs by creating a number of posters," Murrill said. "Again, you don't have to like the posters. The point is you can make posters that comply with the Constitution."

Murrill is expected to appeal the ruling. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that a Kentucky law requiring all public schools to post the Ten Commandments in each classroom was unconstitutional. In Stone v. Graham, the justices ruled 5-4 that the law violated the First Amendment's establishment clause and was "plainly religious in nature." 

But Liberty Counsel points out that the old 1980 ruling no longer applies because the Supreme Court threw out the so-called "Lemon test" that had been used to restrict religious expression. "The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn the 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman opinion and to interpret the First Amendment Establishment Clause according to its historical intent means that not only the Ten Commandments but other religious symbols may be displayed on public property."

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