A federal appeals court on Friday ruled unanimously in favor of a coalition of Louisiana parents who sued to block a state law that requires public schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
The appellate court’s decision upholds a lower court’s ruling in November declaring Louisiana’s law “facially unconstitutional.”
“Parents and students challenge a statute requiring public schools to permanently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom in Louisiana. The district court found the statute facially unconstitutional and preliminarily enjoined its enforcement. We affirm,” the court said in its ruling.
Now, the case moves closer to potentially going before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority.
“We are grateful for this decision, which honors the religious diversity and religious-freedom rights of public school families across Louisiana,” said the Rev. Darcy Roake, who is a plaintiff in the case.
Louisiana’s law went into effect this year at public K-12 schools and state-funded universities. State officials issued guidance on how posters of the Ten Commandments could be designed and hung up in classrooms for educational purposes.
While the law applies to the majority of school districts throughout the state, the five school districts that have parents who are plaintiffs in the original lawsuit are exempt while the litigation plays out.
It’s unclear how many, if any, school districts have begun to comply, and questions remain about what might happen to educators who ultimately don’t cooperate.
During the federal appeals court hearing in Janu, Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga argued that the plaintiffs’ lawsuit was filed too early — before any posters have been displayed.
“The plaintiffs seek to challenge hypothetical displays that do not exist and that they have never seen,” Aguiñaga said.
“The plaintiffs jumped the gun here and filed an unripe case,” he said.
But Jonathan Youngwood, a lawyer for the coalition of parents representing Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious backgrounds said the purpose of the law is tied to religion and violates a separation of church and state.
“What makes this so significant is the requirement that it be in every single (classroom) throughout your 13 years in public school, 177 days a year,” Youngwood said. “It can’t be avoided. It can’t be averted.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are supporting the plaintiffs.
