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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana's Ten Commandments law struck down by US appeals court
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Friday blocked Louisiana from enforcing a law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms of the state's public schools and universities. Calling the law "plainly unconstitutional," a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans unanimously upheld a November 2024 ruling by a lower court judge who enjoined the law's enforcement. It is a victory for parents and students who accused Louisiana of trampling on their religious rights, and a defeat for Republicans and conservative groups trying to make expressions of faith more prominent in society. The appeals court is widely considered among the country's most conservative, though two judges on Friday's panel were appointed by Democratic presidents. According to published reports, Louisiana's Republican attorney general, Liz Murrill, will ask the full appeals court and perhaps eventually the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to review the case. Murrill's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nine families, including several clergy, with children in public schools sued to block the law, saying it violated the First Amendment prohibition against state establishment of religion. "We are grateful for this decision, which honors the religious diversity and religious-freedom rights of public school families across Louisiana," said Darcy Roake, a Unitarian Universalist minister who with her Jewish husband Adrian Van Young is among the plaintiffs. Louisiana's law requires the display of posters or framed versions of the Ten Commandments that are at least 11 inches by 14 inches, with the Commandments being the "central focus" and printed in a large, easy-to-read font. The law, signed by Republican Governor Jeff Landry, covers K-12 schools and state-funded colleges, and was scheduled to take effect on January 1. KENTUCKY PRECEDENT In Friday's decision, Circuit Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez cited a 1980 Supreme Court decision, Stone v. Graham, that struck down a Kentucky law requiring similar displays of the Ten Commandments because it had no "secular legislative purpose." Louisiana said the Stone decision no longer applied because it relied on a precedent that the Supreme Court has disavowed. It also said that even if Stone applied, Louisiana's case differed because schools could display the Ten Commandments with documents such as the Declaration of Independence, reflecting a secular "historical and educational" purpose. Ramirez, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, nonetheless cited several legislators who expressed religion-based justifications for Louisiana's law. These included that the Ten Commandments were "God's law," and that opponents were waging an "attack" on Christianity. "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments," Ramirez wrote, quoting the Stone decision. "This is not a permissible state objective." Ramirez also rejected Louisiana's argument that the Supreme Court's 2022 decision favoring a Washington state high school football coach who prayed with players at the 50-yard line after games required upholding the Ten Commandments law. She said this was in part because the Washington case primarily concerned First Amendment provisions governing free speech and the free exercise of religion. Louisiana was the first U.S. state requiring displays of the Ten Commandments since the Kentucky law was struck down. The case is Roake et al v Brumley et al, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 24-30706.
Reuters
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Louisiana's Ten Commandments law struck down by US appeals court
June 20 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday blocked Louisiana from enforcing a law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms of the state's public schools and universities. Calling the law "plainly unconstitutional," a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans unanimously upheld a November 2024 ruling by a lower court judge who enjoined the law's enforcement. It is a victory for parents and students who accused Louisiana of trampling on their religious rights, and a defeat for Republicans and conservative groups trying to make expressions of faith more prominent in society. The appeals court is widely considered among the country's most conservative, though two judges on Friday's panel were appointed by Democratic presidents. According to published reports, Louisiana's Republican attorney general, Liz Murrill, will ask the full appeals court and perhaps eventually the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to review the case. Murrill's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nine families, including several clergy, with children in public schools sued to block the law, saying it violated the First Amendment prohibition against state establishment of religion. "We are grateful for this decision, which honors the religious diversity and religious-freedom rights of public school families across Louisiana," said Darcy Roake, a Unitarian Universalist minister who with her Jewish husband Adrian Van Young is among the plaintiffs. Louisiana's law requires the display of posters or framed versions of the Ten Commandments that are at least 11 inches by 14 inches, with the Commandments being the "central focus" and printed in a large, easy-to-read font. The law, signed by Republican Governor Jeff Landry, covers K-12 schools and state-funded colleges, and was scheduled to take effect on January 1. In Friday's decision, Circuit Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez cited a 1980 Supreme Court decision, Stone v. Graham, that struck down a Kentucky law requiring similar displays of the Ten Commandments because it had no "secular legislative purpose." Louisiana said the Stone decision no longer applied because it relied on a precedent that the Supreme Court has disavowed. It also said that even if Stone applied, Louisiana's case differed because schools could display the Ten Commandments with documents such as the Declaration of Independence, reflecting a secular "historical and educational" purpose. Ramirez, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, nonetheless cited several legislators who expressed religion-based justifications for Louisiana's law. These included that the Ten Commandments were "God's law," and that opponents were waging an "attack" on Christianity. "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments," Ramirez wrote, quoting the Stone decision. "This is not a permissible state objective." Ramirez also rejected Louisiana's argument that the Supreme Court's 2022 decision favoring a Washington state high school football coach who prayed with players at the 50-yard line after games required upholding the Ten Commandments law. She said this was in part because the Washington case primarily concerned First Amendment provisions governing free speech and the free exercise of religion. Louisiana was the first U.S. state requiring displays of the Ten Commandments since the Kentucky law was struck down. The case is Roake et al v Brumley et al, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 24-30706.
The Hill
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Appeals court rules Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments in schools is unconstitutional
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled Friday a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public-school classrooms is unconstitutional. The law required easily readable posters to go up in all public school classrooms of the Ten Commandments, regardless of what subject the classroom teachers. The judges said the law would be in violation of the First Amendment, giving a big win to advocates who say this bill violated the separation of church and state. 'We are grateful for this decision, which honors the religious diversity and religious-freedom rights of public school families across Louisiana,' said the Rev. Darcy Roake, a plaintiff in the case. 'As an interfaith family, we believe that our children should receive their religious education at home and within our faith communities, not from government officials.' The law first went into effect at the beginning of last school year but has been held up in the courts. The Hill has reached out to Louisiana's attorney general's office for comment. This case could go to the Supreme Court, giving another test to the conservative-leaning high court of the role of religion in schools. Most recently, the Supreme Court in a deadlock decision ruled against a religious charter school in Oklahoma, although Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case.
NBC News
16 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Louisiana's Ten Commandments law in public schools blocked by federal appeals court
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled, in a unanimous decision, in favor of a coalition of Louisiana parents who sued to block a state law that requires public schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The appellate court's decision upholds a lower court's ruling in November declaring Louisiana's law as "facially unconstitutional." 'Parents and students challenge a statute requiring public schools to permanently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom in Louisiana. The district court found the statute facially unconstitutional and preliminarily enjoined its enforcement. We affirm,' the court said in its ruling. Now, the case moves closer to potentially going before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority. 'We are grateful for this decision, which honors the religious diversity and religious-freedom rights of public school families across Louisiana,' said the Rev. Darcy Roake, who is a plaintiff in the case. Louisiana's law went into effect this year at public K-12 schools and state-funded universities. State officials issued guidance on how posters of the Ten Commandments could be designed and hung up in classrooms for educational purposes. While the law applies to the majority of school districts throughout the state, the five school districts that have parents who are plaintiffs in the original lawsuit are exempt while the litigation plays out. It's unclear how many, if any, school districts have begun to comply, and questions remain about what might happen to educators who ultimately don't cooperate. During the federal appeals court hearing in January, Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga argued that the plaintiffs' lawsuit was filed too early — before any posters have been displayed. "The plaintiffs seek to challenge hypothetical displays that do not exist and that they have never seen," Aguiñaga said. "The plaintiffs jumped the gun here and filed an unripe case," he said. But Jonathan Youngwood, a lawyer for the coalition of parents representing Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious backgrounds said the purpose of the law is tied to religion and violates a separation of church and state. "What makes this so significant is the requirement that it be in every single (classroom) throughout your 13 years in public school, 177 days a year," Youngwood said. "It can't be avoided. It can't be averted." The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are supporting the plaintiffs. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has said no public funds would be required to be spent on printing the posters and they can be supplied through private donations. The law dictates the posters must be at least 11 by 14 inches and include a "context statement" that provides historical context for the commandments, which the state believes makes its law constitutional. In a Facebook post in January, Murrill said the state contends that federal courts "have no jurisdiction to decide this case." "The Constitution does not bar our Legislature's attempt to teach our students what the Supreme Court has repeatedly said: The Ten Commandments have historical significance as a foundation of our legal system," Murrill said. But U.S. District Judge John deGravelles of the Middle District of Louisiana disagreed with the state in his ruling in November, in which he wrote that there is no "constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments in accordance with the minimum requirements of the Act." The Supreme Court has also taken up the issue previously, when the justices ruled 5-4 in 1980 that Kentucky's posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools was unconstitutional. Still, President Donald Trump endorsed Louisiana's law during his campaign. Louisiana and other Republican-led states have pushed for new bills and policies that are testing the bounds of religion in public schools. That has included Oklahoma ordering public schools grades five through 12 to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans and Texas allowing public school districts to opt in to a new elementary school curriculum featuring Bible-based lessons. In April, the Supreme Court heard a bid by Oklahoma officials to approve the nation's first publicly funded religious charter school. Meanwhile, Republican leaders in other states, such as Alabama and Texas, are supporting legislation similar to Louisiana's that would allow for the Ten Commandments in public schools. In April, Arkansas legislation requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public schools' classrooms and libraries became law just days after the GOP-controlled Legislature passed it.
