NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s plan to place the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the state next year remains on hold because of an order Wednesday from 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 from U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge while litigation continues. Hearings before a 5th Circuit panel are scheduled for Jan. 23, meaning the judge’s order will remain in effect well past the statutory Jan. 1 deadline for publishing the bids.
The state contends that deGravelles’ order affects only the five school districts that are defendants in a lawsuit. But it is unclear whether and how the law will be enforced in the state’s 67 other counties while the appeal is ongoing. Additionally, deGravelles ordered that all schools in every district be notified of his decision that the law was unconstitutional, a requirement maintained by Wednesday’s ruling.
“We are pleased that the appeals court has fully upheld the district court’s injunction,” said Sam Grover, an attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “As the district court ruled, this law is prima facie unconstitutional.”
Attorney General Liz Murrill said in an emailed statement that her office “will continue to defend this clearly constitutional law.”
DeGravelles ruled that the law passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature was “overtly religious” and “on its face, unconstitutional.” He also said it was an unconstitutional coercion by the religious government against students who were legally required to attend school.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the law in June, prompting a group of multi-faith public school parents in Louisiana to file suit. They argue that the law violates provisions of the First Amendment that prohibit the government from establishing a religion or blocking the free exercise thereof. They also say the proposed poster-sized exhibit would isolate students, especially those who are not Christians. The parents further argue that the law’s version of the Ten Commandments is favored by many Protestants and does not agree with any version in Jewish tradition.
Supporters say the Ten Commandments are not just religious and have historical significance in the foundation of U.S. law. Murrill, the Republican attorney general, said she disagreed with deGravelles’ decision and that the law was constitutional under Supreme Court precedent.
The state’s defeat in court Wednesday came after a partial victory last week when a 5th Circuit panel temporarily blocked instructions in DeGravelles’ order requiring state education officials to notify schools in all districts of his determination that the law is unconstitutional.
Although Wednesday’s decision ended that block, Murrill’s statement reiterated the state’s stance that only counties that are defendants in the lawsuit — in East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Tammany, Orleans and Vernon parishes — are exempt from the order affected by deGravelles.
“There are more than sixty school boards that are not subject to the court’s decision,” she said.
In recent years, similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in classrooms have been proposed in states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. Nobody passed.
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional. The court found that the law had a clearly religious rather than secular purpose.
Louisiana law, which applies to all public K-12 schools and state-funded university classrooms, requires that the Ten Commandments be displayed on a poster or framed document with a minimum size of 11 x 14 inches (28 x 36 centimeters). must have the text in central focus and “printed in a large, easy-to-read font.”
Each poster must be accompanied by a four-paragraph “Context Statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “have been an important part of American public education for nearly three centuries.”
Tens of thousands of posters would probably be needed to comply with the up-to-date law. Advocates say schools are not required to spend public money on them and that donors can provide the posters or money to purchase them.
