A new Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed prominently in all public school classrooms was found unconstitutional by a federal judge who characterized the statute as coercive and discriminatory.
Judge John deGravelles of the Middle District of Louisiana handed down the ruling on Tuesday, finding that the plaintiffs who challenged House Bill 71 had demonstrated that the law violates the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment. The law mandated that state and local education officials place 11- by 14-inch displays of the Ten Commandments from the King James Bible in all public-school classrooms by Jan. 1 of next year.
The new law is unconstitutional on its face, according to deGravelles, who granted a coalition of parent-plaintiffs a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the measure’s provisions. The court also denied the defendants, including state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), a motion to dismiss the case.
The state Attorney General’s Office, which represented the defendants, indicated the legal battle is not over.
“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will immediately appeal, as HB 71’s implementation deadline is approaching on Jan. 1, 2025,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record. “This decision only binds five of Louisiana’s many school boards. This is far from over.”
The plaintiffs have a right to bring up their children based on the teachings of Jewish or Catholic traditions – or according to atheist/agnostic beliefs – rather than seeing their minor sons and daughters be subject to the state’s favored religious teachings, according to deGravelles’ decision. The text of HB 71 and the statements of legislators before and after the measure’s passage show it is not neutral toward religion, the 177-page ruling states.
The ACLU of Louisiana, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs, called the decision a victory for religious freedom.
“This ruling should serve as a reality check for Louisiana lawmakers who want to use public schools to convert children to their preferred brand of Christianity,” Heather Weaver, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said in a prepared statement. “Public schools are not Sunday schools, and (the Nov. 12) decision ensures that our clients’ classrooms will remain spaces where all students, regardless of their faith, feel welcomed.”
Another group representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit is Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which also welcomed the decision.
“This ruling will ensure that Louisiana families – not politicians or public school officials – get to decide if, when and how their children engage with religion,” Rachel Laser, the group’s president and CEO, said. “It should send a strong message to Christian Nationalists across the country that they cannot impose their beliefs on our nation’s public schoolchildren. Not on our watch.”
The court decision stressed that there was no constitutionally acceptable way for state officials to comply with the new law.
“... The question is not whether the biblical laws can ever be put on a poster; the issue is whether, as a matter of law, there is any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments in accordance with the minimum requirements of the act,” deGravelles said in his decision. “In short, the court finds that there is not.”