A Louisiana legislation requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom in public schools was overturned by a federal appeals court on Friday.
The law was declared unconstitutional by the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals, which is frequently regarded as one of the most conservative courts in the country, due to its violation of the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which forbids the government from endorsing a particular religion or enacting legislation that favors it over another.
Following a lawsuit filed by families with pupils in five Louisiana K–12 school districts against the state last year, the ruling preserves a lower court’s order that prevented the law from going into force in those districts. Only the districts in which those plaintiffs reside are covered by the injunction.
Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed a bill mandating that all Louisiana schools display posters with a Protestant rendition of the Ten Commandments into law in June 2024, sparking the start of the judicial struggle.
According to the appeals court, the [Ten Commandments] posters must be indiscriminately displayed in every Louisiana public school classroom, regardless of the subject matter of the class, in accordance with the statute’s minimum requirements. If permitted to be erected, the displays will irreparably violate [the Plaintiffs’] First Amendment rights.
Republican attorney general Liz Murrill of Louisiana stated that she plans to ask the entire 5th Circuit for a review and, if required, to appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Muller, Wesley, Stateline
