NEW ORLEANS A federal appeals court in New Orleans issued an injunction Wednesday that halts Louisiana’s proposal to hang the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms in the state starting next year.
A state motion to temporarily halt an earlier order issued by U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge while the case is still pending was denied by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judge’s order remains in force far after the law’s January 1 deadline for posting the commandments, since arguments before a 5th Circuit panel are set for January 23.
The state argues that only the five school districts that are defendants in a legal dispute are impacted by deGravelles’ order. However, while the appeal is pending, it is unclear how or whether the law would be applied in the other 67 districts of the state. Additionally, as upheld by Wednesday’s finding, deGravelles mandated that all schools in each district be informed of his conclusion that the statute is unconstitutional.
Sam Grover, a lawyer with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, expressed his satisfaction that the Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s injunction in its entirety. This law is unlawful on its face, according to the district court’s ruling.
In an emailed statement, State Attorney General Liz Murrill stated that her office would keep on its defense of this obviously constitutional rule.
DeGravelles declared that the bill, which was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, was obviously illegal and overtly religious. Additionally, he claimed it amounted to the government’s unlawful compulsion of kids, who are legally obligated to attend school, on the basis of their religion.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landrysigned the billinto law in June, prompting a group of Louisiana public school parents of different faiths to sue. They contend that the law is in violation of the First Amendment’s ban on the establishment of religions and the restriction of their free practice. Additionally, they claim that the planned poster-sized exhibit would alienate students, particularly non-Christian ones. The parents further contend that the Ten Commandments as they are outlined in the law are preferred by many Protestants and do not correspond to any version found in Jewish tradition.
The Ten Commandments, according to their proponents, have historical relevance for the establishment of American law and are not just religious. Murrill, the Republican attorney general, has stated that the statute is constitutional based on Supreme Court precedents and that she disagrees with the deGravelles verdict.
Following a brief triumph last week when a 5th Circuit panel temporarily delayed directions in DeGravelles’ order that state education officials tell schools in all districts of his decision that the statute is unconstitutional, the state lost its court battle on Wednesday.
Murrill stated in her statement that the deGravelles order only affects districts that are defendants in the litigation in the parishes of East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Tammany, Orleans, and Vernon, even though Wednesday’s judgment put a stop to that block.
According to her, over sixty school boards are exempt from the court’s decision.
Similar proposals mandating that the Ten Commandments be exhibited in classrooms have been presented in Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah in recent years. Not one has gone by.
The Supreme Court declared a comparable Kentucky legislation unlawful in 1980. The court determined that the law’s intent was clearly religious and not secular.
The Ten Commandments must be shown on a poster or framed document that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches, with the text as the main focus and printed in a large, easily accessible typeface, according to Louisiana law, which is applicable to all public K–12 schools and state-funded university classrooms.
A four-paragraph context statement explaining how the Ten Commandments were a significant component of American public education for nearly three centuries must be included with each poster.
The new law would probably require tens of thousands of posters. Supporters claim that contributors can supply the posters or the funds to purchase them, and that schools are not obligated to use public funds for them.
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