Louisiana 10 Commandments Law to Stay Blocked During Appeal (2)

Louisiana lost its bid to pause a trial court order barring it from enforcing a state law that requires the display of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms.

The New Orleans-based US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected the state’s request on Wednesday in a two-paragraph ruling, without taking argument on the request. The American Civil Liberties Union’s brief in opposition to the stay request was due on Nov. 25.

The unsigned order stated it was issued by clerk Lyle W. Cayce “at the direction of the court.”

“It is important to recognize that this is a preliminary ruling that applies only to the five school boards who were sued,” plus the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Superintendent of Education, neither of whom control the school boards, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) said in a statement provided to Bloomberg Law. “There are more than sixty school boards that are not subject to the ruling of the court. We look forward to continuing to defend this clearly constitutional law.”

US District Judge John W. deGravelles preliminarily blocked the legislative mandate on Nov. 12, finding the measure facially unconstitutional and unconstitutional in all applications. He ordered the state to provide notice to all Louisiana schools saying the law is unconstitutional.

“The Act’s mandatory practice is coercive,” deGravelles said, repeatedly referring to students as a “captive audience,” the US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana judge said in his 177-page ruling.

Murrill immediately appealed the trial court’s decision.

Louisiana has asserted that its legislation, HB 71, as written doesn’t implicate what the founders would’ve recognized as an establishment of religion, and it is impossible for a facial challenge to demonstrate there was no constitutional way to comply with the requirement.

Argument Date Set

HB 71 required the display of the Protestant King James Bible version of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Members of the Unitarian Universalist, Presbyterian, and Reform Jewish faiths, as well as atheists brought suit through the American Civil Liberties Union, Freedom from Religion Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, saying the requirement burdened their clients’ sincere beliefs. A high school teacher in New Orleans has filed a separate challenge to the law.

“We’re pleased that the Court of Appeals left the district court’s injunction fully intact. As the district court ruled, this law is unconstitutional on its face,” attorney Heather Weaver, of the ACLU said after Wednesday’s ruling.

In a separate court order also issued Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit set an expedited briefing schedule for on the merits of the case, with final court papers due on Jan. 1, 2025, the date the state’s law was set to take effect. The case will be argued Jan. 23.

Oklahoma is facing a legal challenge to a requirement to include the Bible in its public school curriculum.

The case is Roake v. Brumley, 5th Cir., No. 24-30706, 11/20/24.