Federal judge rules Louisiana law to put 10 Commandments in schools unconstitutional

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A federal judge has ruled that a Louisiana law requiring posters of the 10 Commandments to be placed in Louisiana schools is unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, Nov. 12, U.S. District Court Judge John W. deGravelles issued his order and ruling in a 177-page document.

In it, he said a law created earlier this year requiring that posters of the 10 Commandments be hung in large, legible letters in every classroom in the state is facially unconstitutional and unconstitutional in all applications.

He said all defendants in the suit are prohibited from enforcing the law, making rules to hang the posters or requiring that the religious text be hung in all public classrooms.

In a separate order, deGravelles denied a request from the state to strike the testimony of historian Steven Green. The Willamette University in Oregon professor writes on the separation of church and state. He says the 10 Commandments were not a key document used to create law or public education.

“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will immediately appeal, as H.B. 71’s implementation deadline is approaching on January 1, 2025," said Attorney General Liz Murrill.

“Religious freedom—the right to choose one’s faith without pressure—is essential to American democracy,” said Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “Today’s ruling ensures that the schools our plaintiff’s children attend will stay focused on learning, without promoting a state-preferred version of Christianity.”

Rev. Darcy Roake, a plaintiff in the case with her husband Adrian Van Young, said they are "pleased and relieved" after the ruling, calling the law "a direct infringement of our religious-freedom rights" in a statement.

The governor's office and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education both said they had no comment.

The history

The Louisiana Legislature approved a new law requiring all classrooms to hang a poster of the Ten Commandments in large, legible print. Lawmakers argue that the document has historic significance independent of religious value. Gov. Jeff Landry signed it on June 19.

Shortly afterward, a group sued the date and education leaders in the Middle District of Louisiana to prevent the posters from being hung, arguing that they would infringe on students' religious freedoms.

In July at the Republican National Convention, Landry said having the document hanging in classrooms might have prevented Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump, from committing the crime. He said using taxpayer money to defend the state’s new law requiring schools to hang the Ten Commandments in every classroom is a price he’s willing to pay. He argued that the law ultimately aims “to keep kids out of crime, to reduce violence and to bring some civility back to the country and to the world as well.”

In August, Landry and Murrill held a news conference, saying they'd asked that the suit be thrown out of court. They brought posters that they said could safely display the commandments without violating anyone's constitutional rights.

Among the graphics was a poster using a quote from the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that seemed to justify using the Ten Commandments as a founding document alongside a photo of her serving as a justice. Her family later said it was "misleading." The quote was from something she wrote in eighth grade touting the Charter of the United Nations as a new guiding document. Ginsburg was a strong advocate for the separation of church and state.

Landry, at the conference, said the state legislature followed the will of the majority of the people when they passed the law earlier this year. He said families who don't want their kids to see the posters to "tell their child not to look at it."

Both sides agreed to wait until Nov. 15 to hang any posters until the judge ruled.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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