A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked a controversial state law that would’ve required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, from elementary school through college.
Judge John W. deGravelles (who was appointed by Barack Obama) ruled that the law was unconstitutional and barred the state from enacting it (it was set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2025). DeGravelles said the law was “coercive to students,” arguing there was no way they could “opt out of viewing the Ten Commandments when they are displayed in every classroom, every day of the year, every year of their education.”
He also said there were “any number of ways the state could advance an alleged interest in educating students about the Ten Commandments that would be less burdensome.”
Louisiana’s Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill, whose office defended the law before deGravelles, said she disagreed with the decision and would appeal (via The New York Times). That expected appeal will put the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit — one of the most conservative courts in the country.
“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, which is involved in the case. “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.”
The Ten Commandments law was passed and signed in June, making Louisiana the first state to enact such a law since the Supreme Court struck down Kentucky’s efforts to do the same in 1980. DeGravelles, in his ruling, cited the Supreme Court’s precedent in Stone v. Graham, agreeing that the Louisiana law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, speaking with Rolling Stone this summer after signing the law, rebuffed the 1980 ruling, saying, “The Supreme Court got it wrong about the separation of church and state.” He argued the First Amendment protects people from government persecution of their religious practices, but doesn’t prevent majority governments from ruling as they see fit.
“Democracy doesn’t say the majority has to sit in the back and listen to what the minority says, because the minority have some feelings that have been hurt,” he said.
It’s likely that the Ten Commandments issue will inevitably make its way back to the Supreme Court. Murrill, in audio obtained by Rolling Stone, admitted as much herself while speaking with undercover reporters for liberal documentarian Lauren Windsor at a Moms for Liberty town hall in July. Murrill even spoke about how she hopes to sway the court with mock-ups of sample Ten Commandment posters that she said would be “constitutionally compliant.”
“I’d like to incorporate some photos from the east frieze of the United States Supreme Court, so when I’m standing in the United States Supreme Court, I can point out that Moses is right there, in their building, in quite a few places,” she said. “The case has a long way to go, but I do think some people are going to move similar legislation.”
