A federal appeals court has blocked Louisiana from enforcing a law that would require the display of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms of the state’s public schools and universities.
A three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans unanimously upheld a November 2024 ruling by a lower court judge that had prevented the law’s enforcement, describing the law as "plainly unconstitutional".
The decision is seen as a victory for parents and students who argued that Louisiana’s law infringed on their religious rights. Nine families, including several clergy with children in public schools, brought the legal challenge, citing the First Amendment prohibition against state establishment of religion. "We are grateful for this decision, which honours the religious diversity and religious-freedom rights of public school families across Louisiana," said Darcy Roake, a Unitarian Universalist minister and one of the plaintiffs.
The law, signed by Republican Governor Jeff Landry, would have required posters or framed versions of the Ten Commandments, at least 11 inches by 14 inches, to be displayed as the "central focus" in all K-12 classrooms and state-funded colleges. It was scheduled to take effect on 1st January.
In the decision, Circuit Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez referenced the 1980 Supreme Court case Stone v. Graham, which struck down a similar Kentucky law on the grounds that it lacked a "secular legislative purpose". While Louisiana argued that its law differed by allowing the commandments to be displayed with other historical documents, the appeals court found that legislators had cited religious motivations, and therefore the law remained unconstitutional.
Louisiana’s Republican attorney general, Liz Murrill, has indicated plans to appeal the decision, potentially to the US Supreme Court.
Louisiana is the first US state to require Ten Commandments displays since the Kentucky law was struck down over forty years ago. The case continues to highlight ongoing debates about the role of religion in public education and the boundaries of religious expression in the US.