NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s plan to make all of the state’s public school classrooms post the Ten Commandments remains on hold under an order Wednesday by a federal appeals court in New Orleans.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a state request to temporarily stay an earlier order by U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge while litigation continues. Arguments before a 5th Circuit panel are scheduled for Jan. 23.
The state contends that deGravelles’ order affects only the five school districts that are defendants in a legal challenge. But it’s unclear whether or how the law would be enforced in the state’s 67 other districts while the appeal progresses.
“We’re pleased that the Court of Appeals left the district court’s injunction fully intact,” said Sam Grover, an attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “As the district court ruled, this law is unconstitutional on its face.”
The state attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
DeGravelles ruled that the law, passed by the GOP-dominated Legislature this year, was “overtly religious” and “unconstitutional on its face.” He also said it amounted to unconstitutional religious government coercion of students, who are legally required to attend school.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law in June, prompting a group of Louisiana public school parents of different faiths to sue. They argue the law violates the First Amendment’s provisions forbidding the government from establishing a religion or blocking the free exercise of it. They also say the proposed poster-sized display would isolate students, especially those who are not Christian. The parents further argue that the version of the Ten Commandments specified in the law is favored by many protestants and doesn’t match any version found in Jewish tradition.
Proponents say the Ten Commandments are not solely religious and have a historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. Republican Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill has said she disagreed with deGravelles’ ruling and that the law is constitutional under Supreme Court precedents.
The state’s loss in court on Wednesday came after a partial victory last week. DeGravelles’ original order included instructions that state education officials notify all school districts of his finding that the law is unconstitutional. A 5th Circuit panel temporarily blocked that notification argument after the state argued that only districts that are defendants in the lawsuit — in East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Tammany, Orleans and Vernon parishes — are affected by deGravelles’ order.
However, that temporary block was lifted with Wednesday’s order, Grover said.
In recent years, similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms have been proposed in states including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. None have passed.
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional. The court found that the law had a plainly religious purpose and no secular one.
