A federal appeals court has overturned a statewide injunction blocking enforcement of Louisiana’s new law requiring the placement of the Ten Commandments in all public-school classrooms.
The 2-1 decision by a Fifth Circuit Appeals Court panel on Nov. 15 followed on the heels of a district court decision siding with plaintiffs who challenged the law. The district court judge, John deGravelles, approved a statewide injunction blocking school officials from implementing the provisions of the law.
The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of parents of schoolchildren by the ACLU of Louisiana and other groups, was labeled unconstitutional by deGravelles, but the latest decision allows school districts not involved in the litigation to make preparations to post the Ten Commandments by the law’s Jan. 1 implementation date.
Defendants in the case include Cade Brumley, the state superintendent of education, and members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). The state Attorney General's Office argued in its appeal that the judge's ruling should only apply to the five school districts named in the lawsuit – East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, Livingston Parish Schools, St. Tammany Parish Schools, Orleans Parish Schools and Vernon Parish Schools.
Attorney General Liz Murrill has stressed in previous statements that Louisiana’s school boards are independent, elected entities within political subdivisions.
“BESE is not the supervisor of school boards in Louisiana,” Murrill said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record. “BESE does not have legal supervision over school boards. Only five school boards are defendants, and therefore the judge only has jurisdiction over those five.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, she said in the wake of the Fifth Circuit’s decision, “I look forward to immediately working with all of our school boards who are not involved in this lawsuit to implement the law soon!”
In its motion to stay the injunction, attorneys for the defendants said the plaintiffs had yet to sustain any injury since no Ten Commandments posters have been placed in classrooms as of yet. In addition, the law requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in historical context but leaves the display details up to local districts, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
“... Because (the) plaintiffs concededly assert facial challenges, their burden is to show that every possible (House Bill) 71 display is unconstitutional,” the appellants’ motion says. “But that is an impossible burden for them to carry, not least because they have never seen such a display and there are quite literally an infinite number of potential HB 71 displays that are constitutionally compliant.”
The plaintiffs, who come from a number of religious faiths, had argued that the new law singles out the state’s favored version of the Ten Commandments, from the King James Bible, for posting. That version differs in some ways with the versions of the Ten Commandments in Jewish and Catholic traditions.
The defendants, in their motion, alleged that the plaintiffs’ claims are not ripe for litigation and that state education officials are entitled to sovereign immunity against such lawsuits.
“The state is exceedingly likely to succeed on appeal – and every day that (the) defendants are unable to comply with HB 71 ahead of its Jan. 1, 2025, compliance deadline causes irreparable harm,” the defendants-appellants’ motion states. “The court should stay the injunction pending appeal.”