The Louisiana Attorney General has asked the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to review a ruling blocking the state’s Ten Commandments law.
Attorney General Liz Murrill filed the petition on Thursday.
This comes after a judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a ruling made last week, finding the law unconstitutional. This ruling upholds a previous federal court’s ruling.
“Today, my office filed a petition seeking the full Fifth Circuit’s review in our litigation regarding Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law. The Fifth Circuit’s panel decision in this case directly rejected the Fifth Circuit’s own precedents and precedents from other circuits and the Supreme Court. This is exactly the sort of case that warrants full Court review, and we appreciate the Court’s careful consideration,” Murrill said in an issued statement.
Plaintiffs celebrated the ruling, saying, “This is a resounding victory for the separation of church and state and public education.”
“With today’s ruling, the Fifth Circuit has held Louisiana accountable to a core constitutional promise: Public schools are not Sunday schools, and they must welcome all students, regardless of faith,” Heather L. Weaver said. Weaver is an attorney with the ACLU.
“We strongly disagree with the Fifth Circuit’s affirmance of an injunction preventing five Louisiana parishes from implementing HB 71,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said. “We will immediately seek relief from the full Fifth Circuit and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Earlier reports:
A federal judge previously ruled in November that Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is unconstitutional.
The legislation that was passed earlier this year would require all public schools and universities to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Judge John W. DeGravelles ruled the law unconstitutional, which means five public school districts will not have to hang the Ten Commandments in classrooms by Jan. 1.
Those districts are:
- East Baton Rouge Parish
- Livingston Parish
- St. Tammany Parish
- Orleans Parish
- Vernon Parish School Board
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill plans to appeal the decision.
Murrill issued a new statement on Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law ruling:
“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will immediately appeal, as HB 71’s implementation deadline is approaching on Jan. 1, 2025. This decision only binds five of Louisiana’s many school boards. School boards are independently elected, local political subdivisions in Louisiana. BESE is not the supervisor of school boards in Louisiana. 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. This is far from over.”
Louisiana became the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in schools earlier this year when Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law.
The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities.
Opponents question the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits are likely to follow. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious but that it has historical significance. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.”
The posters would be paid for through donations. State funds will not be used to implement the mandate, based on language in the legislation.
Similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms have been proposed in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, with threats of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, no state besides Louisiana has had success in making the bills law.
Legal battles over the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms are not new.
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The high court found that the law had no secular purpose but rather served a plainly religious purpose.
READ MORE:Louisiana Attorney General asks for full review from Fifth Circuit over Ten Commandments law
